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ALL THE CHILDREN 

OF 

ALL THE PEOPLE 



A STUDY OF THE ATTEMPT TO EDUCATE 
EVERYBODY 



BY 

WILLIAM HAWLEY SMITH 

AUTHOR OF "THE EVOLUTION OF DODD " 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1912 

All rights reserved 









0^ 



Copyright, 1912, 

bt the macmillan company. 

Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1912. 



Noriuooti ^ttfis 

J. S, Cushlng Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



CI.A305570 



TO THE READER 

However reluctant one may be to acknowledge the 
fact, it is none the less certain that the task of trying 
to educate everybody, which our public schools are 
engaged in, has proved to be far more difficult than 
the originators of the idea of such a possibiHty thought 
it would be when they set out upon the undertaking. 

This is a mild way of stating a most important truth. 

Moreover, this truth is steadily forcing its way into 
general recognition among all classes and conditions 
of modern society. 

All people who are interested in educational affairs 
are thinking about the situation, and are talking about 
it constantly, both in private and in public. 

Every educational meeting, from a local Teachers* 
Institute to the annual gathering of the National Edu- 
cational Association, now makes this condition of affairs 
the chief subject of its attention, its addresses and dis- 
cussions. 

These facts all prove that the issue of attempting 
to universalize education is just now one of most intense 
interest and importance. It follows that, since the 
whole subject is yet in an unsettled, not to say ferment- 
ing, condition, it is open and ready for the most careful 
study and consideration. 

It is because all these things are so that I have 
written this book, which I hope may help at least a 
little toward the successful solution of the most momen- 
tous problem of the age. 

WILLIAM HAWLEY SMITH. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

To THE Reader v 

CHAPTER 

I. "Born Short" i 

II. "Born Long" ii 

III. Some Comparisons and Conclusions ... 20 

IV. Nascitur non Fit 28 

V. How CAN THESE THINGS BE? . . . .38 

VI. Some Cases in Point 48 

VII. Under the Threshold 58 

VIII. Some Darker Studies 67 

IX. What Follows? 78 

X. Again the Body ....... 88 

XI. Strictly between Ourselves > . . . -99 

XII. Some Whys and Wherefores . . . .109 

XIII. Bits of History 112 

XIV. More Bits of History ; . . . .118 
XV. Some Results 127 

XVI. What is Wrong in All This? . . . -139 

XVII. Can Anything be done to help these Matters? 146 

XVIII. The Law of the Individual . . . .152 

XIX. What is Education? Who are Educated 

Men? 159 

XX. What Education must do for the Child . 169 

XXI. Sympathetic Vibration 176 

XXII. Educational Values 186 

XXIII. Concerning Courses of Study, Diplomas, etc. 196 

XXIV. Some Other Changes 209 

vii 



Vlll 



CONTENTS 



XXV. Examinations 

XXVI. Shooting to Hit 

XXVII. Just a Little about Teachers 

XXVIII. The Parental Factor 

XXIX. Concerning Institutions . 

XXX. "Making an Act" . 

XXXI. Manipulation 

XXXII. Reading and Literature . 

XXXIII. Some Things about Methods 

XXXIV. Morals and Religion 
XXXV. The Common Sense of it All 



216 
228 

237 
251 
261 

277 
287 
294 
306 

315 

328 



"The great problem of the present day is to reconcile the 
traditions of the universities and the cult of the humanities 
with the growth of the scientific spirit." — m, mauvlce 
Steeg, 

"Education is growth, development; it is not creation." — 
From Wise Sayings, 

"I never saw a hen yet could HATCH OUT OF AN EGG ANYTHING 
DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WAS IN IT WHEN IT WAS LAID." — Old Ivlsh 

Woman, 

" No MAN IS REALLY WELL EDUCATED WHO IS NOT * ONTO HIS JOB.' " 

— From. Sayings of an Engineer, 

"Anything and everything that any individual child natu- 
rally 'HUMS to' IS educative FOR THAT CHILD." — From Sym- 
pathetic Vibration, 



HC 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL 
THE PEOPLE 

CHAPTER I 

"BORN SHORT" 

Prefatory Remark — Babies not " all alike " — The Myth of the 
"Wholly Normal" and the "Perfectly Rounded" Child or Adult 

— Our Own Instinctive Feeling vs. the Popular Notion in the 
Premises — Everybody " Born Short " somewhere — Range of the 
Condition — Brief List of Cases in Point — Color-Blind and Tone- 
Deaf People — The Phenomena of " Shortage " in Lower Grade 
Pupils in the Public Schools — Pupil who could read to himself, 
but not aloud — Pupil who could not learn Multiplication Tables 

— Author's Experience regarding Inability to memorize Dates or 
master Classical Languages — Teacher and Judge who could not 
"tell Time" — People who cannot tell Right Hand from Left — 
Eminent Men who cannot spell — Julia Ward Howe on Charles 
Sumner — Shaler on Agassiz — General Grant — The Meaning 
of these Data. 

In considering the practicability of the attempt to 
educate all the children of all the people, the whole 
issue turns on the natures of the children themselves, 
their inherent powers and capabilities, individually and 
de novo. 

These elemental factors in the make-up of all children 
I have carefully investigated for many years, and it 
is specifically on the strength of the data thus col- 
lected that I begin these studies of the subject of popu- 
lar education. 



2 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

There is a certain type of man who is wont to remark, 
on occasion : " All babies look aUke to me." Yet the 
first mother he meets will tell him that what he says is 
based on the most superficial observation, and that he 
"doesn't know what he is talking about." 

All my own observations have forced me to acknowl- 
edge the fact that there is a marked difference in chil- 
dren, even at the time of their birth, a difference so 
pronounced that it is perfectly safe to say that no two 
of them are exactly alike. And just as soon as these 
bits of infantile humanity begin to show their mental 
efficiencies or inefficiencies, these differences become 
more and more manifest. As infancy advances into 
childhood, childhood into youth, and youth into maturity, 
these primal qualities intensify their distinguishing marks 
upon each soul, and brand it as itself and not any other 
in all the world. This is the core of all individuality. 
That is, it is not uniformity, but diversity, that constitutes 
the fundamental element which makes a human being 
what he is. 

A moment's thought upon this proposition will re- 
sult in the conclusion that the " wholly normal " individ- 
ual, one who taUies exactly and at all points to uniform 
specifications made and provided, does not exist, and 
that the " perfectly rounded " child or adult is a myth, 
and so cannot be figured with definitely. 

So far as we are ourselves concerned, we each one 
instinctively feel and positively know that these things 
are as I have stated them; but the popular theory re- 
garding them is quite the reverse of the way I have put 
them, so much so as to obscure, almost entirely, the 
facts in the case. At least this is true, that their sig- 
nificance, as they stand related to individual possibilities 



"BORN SHORT" 3 

in the affairs of life, is not recognized as it should be 
in the theories and practices for human development 
that prevail to-day. 

Stated in another way, — - for I wish to emphasize this 
point from the beginning, — we are all aware, in our 
inmost hearts, that we are not equally strong in every 
part of our make-up, and that we were born that way. 
That is, as I have phrased it at the heading of this 
chapter, we all know that we are " born short " some- 
where; that in some spheres in the mental plane we 
do not function as readily as we do in some others. 
We all know this. 

And because we all know this — because I know it, 
and everybody I have ever known or known about or 
have heard of knows it — I feel fully warranted in mak- 
ing the inductive conclusion that everybody in all the 
world is "born short" somewhere. Such shortage may 
be so slight in some individuals as to escape the notice 
of all but the expert, or it may be so much in evidence 
in other cases as to be noticed by everybody at a glance^ 
It may vary all the way from a minor idiosyncrasy to 
blank idiocy. But in its manifestations in these two ex- 
tremes, and all the way between them, the phenomena 
belong in the same category ; they are but quantitative 
exploitations of one and the same psychological con- 
dition. 

These facts, and their complements, which will be 
considered later, form the very "central heart" of the 
possibility of educating everybody. 

To analyze and make a list of such shortages, as they 
appear in all the varieties of humanity that the world 
holds, would be an endless task, and volumes could not 
contain the record, though it would all be germane to 



4 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

the issue I am considering. All I care to do here, how- 
ever, is to note enough of the phenomena to form a 
base for the educational theory I have in mind to stand 
upon. 

Cases in point are as thick as blackberries, whichever 
way one looks, if only he has eyes to see ; and one 
such list, which any one might make, would be as good 
as another for all practical purposes. I claim no special 
merit for the list I am about to give. But since I must 
have such data to start with, I submit what follows. 
Most of the cases cited have come under my own per- 
sonal observation, and all the others are vouched for by 
the most reliable witnesses. 

Here then is my list — the data on which the first 
part of my argument is based : — 

My attention was first called to the fact that there is 
such a condition as lack of abiUty to function in some 
mental plane — that all human beings are not alike in 
what they can do with their minds — when I was little 
more than a child, through my association with two of 
my youthful mates, one of whom was color-blind and 
the other tone-deaf. The first was a neighbor boy who 
could not distinguish red from green. He could per- 
ceive no difference between the color of a red rose and 
the green foliage of the bush on which it grew. The 
second was a little girl who could not "rise and fall 
her eight notes " at singing school. She sat near me in 
the class, and I suffered the tortures of the lost (for I 
have a very keen musical ear) from being compelled to 
hear her monotone droning through the songs the rest 
of us could sing as they were written. These two cases 
made a great impression upon me, and I have never for- 
gotten them. 



"BORN SHORT" 5 

Later in life, as a teacher in the public schools, I 
found " shortages" or " lacks " cropping out, to a greater 
or less degree, in all the pupils who came under my 
tuition. The phenomena began to show in the first 
year's work, and there were signs of the same qualities, 
more or less pronounced, in each several pupil, till he or 
she dropped out of school or graduated. 

Thus, I found pupils who required several terms to 
learn to read the simplest lessons. These children were 
not idiots, in the ordinary use of that word, though it 
would not be at variance with what I consider to be the 
truth to say that they were idiotic in spots — on the read- 
ing spot, as it were. I have known of pupils who never 
could learn to read, though they were normally able on 
some other lines. The late Supt. E. A. Gastman, of 
Decatur, 111., once reported to me the case of a boy of 
twelve in one of his ward schools, who, though he was 
neither deaf nor dumb, yet never could learn to read 
aloud ; though his teacher discovered one day, much to 
her surprise, that the lad could read quite well to him- 
self, and that he was specially fond of reading history, 
in which he was much more than usually proficient for 
one of his years. As this boy appeared among his 
mates, there was nothing in looks or actions to indicate 
this particular shortage ; that is, he could talk well 
enough, and would pass for what is called a normal 
child to the casual observer. And yet this is his 
record. 

Granted that this case is exceptional. Indeed it is 
one of the most peculiar I have ever had knowledge of. 
But that does not remove it from a legitimate place in 
the list I am making up. Nor do I think that this case 
is really as remarkable as it at first seemed to me, and 



6 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

may seem to the reader to be. Doubtless there are 
a great many primary teachers in this country who 
could cite cases from their own experiences with pupils 
under their care that would equal or surpass this one in 
strangeness. 

I once had a pupil who could not learn the multipli- 
cation tables, though he was remarkably able in some 
other studies. When he grew to manhood he became 
an inventor and business promoter, in which capacity he 
amassed a fortune. But he never learned the multipli- 
cation tables. I met him when he was a man of wealth, 
at the head of a large manufacturing establishment, and 
asked him if he hud learned the multiplication tables 
yet, and he replied : " No ! Why should I learn the 
multiplication tables .'' I can hire girls at six dollars a 
week who can do that work for me ! Life is too short 
for me to waste it in trying to master what I have no 
head for ! " His remark is worth serious consideration. 

This case is also rare, but there are multitudes of 
teachers in the grades who could duplicate it out of 
their own record books. There is a story, which those 
who surely ought to know declare to be well founded, 
that no less a personage than Dean Stanley had this 
particular shortage, and that, in the prime of his life, 
he once said, in the presence of a gentleman with whom 
he was doing business : " seven times three are twenty- 
three," and that he knew no better till his friend cor- 
rected him ! 

But I must not continue the list in just this line. 
Time and space would fail me to tell of the pupils I 
have had who were ''short" in spelling! (Please don't 
all exclaim at once !) In lack of ability to memorize dates 
I have had many cases. I myself could never learn 



"BORN SHORT" 7 

to draw a map, or anything else but my salary. And 
yet I strove hard, with all my might and main indeed, 
to do such work. I was equally a failure in my 
attempts to master Latin and Greek, though I virtually 
sweat blood in trying to obtain a knowledge of these 
languages. I used to sit up till late at night to dig out 
my translations, and was up and at work again in the 
very early morning. But it was a rare thing for me to 
make a recitation on which I could get a record of 7 on 
a scale of marking in which 10 meant correct. The 
men and women are yet living who could testify to the 
truth of these statements. I record them now at this 
time of my life, not with shame or any feeling of dis- 
grace, though in school I was more than once put to a 
mental torture that was akin to crucifixion because of 
my "shortage" on these counts! And I think these 
terrible experiences of my schoolboy days are not nearly 
as exceptional among the pupils of to-day as they ought 
to be. 

If the reader is a teacher, please pause and think a 
moment just here ! 

Any teacher of experience can extend this list of 
" short " pupils ad infinitmn. I turn, then, from this 
part of the record of children to that of grown-ups. 

Perhaps I ought to explain that these adult cases are 
given for the sake of showing the persistence of " born 
so " lacks or excesses. It is this fact that makes them 
germane to my chief contention, of vital interest in the 
issue in hand. 

I once knew a school teacher, a good one, too, she was, 
who could not tell the time of day on a watch or clock. I 
mentioned this fact once, at a pubHc educational meeting, 
and at its close a judge of the court in that district, who 



8 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

happened to be present and so heard my remarks, came 
to me and said : " Mr. Smith, I did not suppose that any 
other human being in all this world ever was afflicted as 
I have always been. But the case of the teacher who 
could not tell time is exactly like my own. I have never 
been able to tell the time of day on a watch or clock. 
I carry a watch because that is counted the proper thing 
for a judge to do ; but if I want to know, for certain, 
what time it is, I ask some one who knows! " I after- 
wards inquired of lawyers who practiced before this 
judge's court, and was told that he always asked some 
one what time it was before he adjourned court. They 
said he would squint at the clock, as if he could not see 
its face clearly, and would then inquire what time it was 
and wait till some one told him ! None of the lawyers 
knew positively that the judge could not "tell time," he 
concealed his defect so cleverly, but one of them said to 
me : " It always seemed curious to us that he could see 
our faces, anyhow well enough to tell us apart, and 
could not see the face of the clock." 

I know a primary teacher, of national reputation, who 
cannot tell her right hand from her left except by a 
special mental effort and the use of a particular method 
she has for determining which hand is which. I also 
know a leading college president, who is at the head of 
one of the best institutions of its class in this country, 
who is " short " in the same way. 

I know a State Commissioner of Education, who is 
among the foremost of educational leaders in the United 
States, who never writes a letter with his own hand. 
He cannot spell — has never been able to learn to do so. 

A leading bishop of one of the strongest denomina- 
tions in this country once said to me : '* It would be a 



"BORN SHORT" g 

notable day when I would not spell w/iuk in at least 
three different ways in writing a single page." 

In her autobiography Julia Ward Howe states that 
Charles Sumner had so little mathematical ability that 
Professor Pierce, of Harvard College, once said to him : 
" Charles, I never expect to get the simplest mathemati- 
cal proposition whittled down to so fine a point that 
even the tip of it could enter your mind." 

The late N. S. Shaler, in his autobiography, said, in 
speaking of the examination that Professor Agassiz gave 
him, when he became the pupil of that noted scientist : 
" He did not probe me in my weakest place, mathe- 
matics, for the good reason that, badly off as I was on 
that subject, he was in a worse phght." 

I know an actress of such wonderful tragic ability 
that she can thrill an audience to the point of frenzy 
(the real thing), and yet she could not "make change 
for a dollar " to save her life. 

Every reader of General Grant's Memoirs will recall 
the story he tells of his financial '* shortage " as shown 
in buying a colt when he was a boy ; and the story 
of the Grant- Ward failure shows how his youthful trait 
remained with him to the close of his life. 

Similar cases, showing the general distribution of 
"shortage" among men and women whose names are 
honored throughout the world could easily be given, but 
these are enough to establish all I am contending for 
here. All these and multitudes besides have demon- 
strated that they had a lack of ability to function in 
certain spheres of the mental plane — that they were 
" short " on some counts. It is equally true that these 
" shortages " manifested themselves in the early life of 
the individuals concerned, that they were " born short " 



lO ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

in each and every case, and that such ** shortage " cut a 
considerable figure in their lives and acts, both in their 
youth and in their adult life. This point is so clear that 
I can rest the further presentation of the testimony 
that upholds it right here. The facts I have stated are 
undeniable, and they all mean something. I shall refer 
to them again and again when I come to argue the case 
in full. 



CHAPTER II 

"BORN LONG" 

Partial List of "Longs" — Mathematical Boy of Six — Primary 
Pupils who could " always " read or draw — Case of Robert 
Gardenhire — " Absolute Pitch " possessed by Boy of Ten — 
Idiot Girl a Crochet Genius — Juvenile Prodigies — The "Pro- 
nounced " vs. the " Exceptional " — General Distribution of the 
Phenomena of " Longage " in Some Form — Found among All 
Classes of People — Author's Ability to memorize Prose and 
Poetry — Similar Cases noted — Examples from Other Walks of 
Life — The Little Engine — The Gardener — The Cook — The 
Significance of these Facts. 

Turning now to the other side of the shield, I give 
herewith a limited list of people I have known who 
were " long," or here or there, who had an excess of 
ability to function in certain spheres of the mental 
plane. Here, also, my observations began when I was 
quite young ; and while I did not philosophize upon the 
data at that time of my life, yet they made a marked 
impression upon me as peculiar mental phenomena, 
which has continued even to this day. 

I remember a boy of six who was always '' making up 
problems " which he delighted to spring upon his elders. 
One, I remember, was as follows : If a quarter of a 
dollar is fifteen sixteenths of an inch in diameter, and 
it is 25,000 miles around the earth, how many quarters 
laid side by side would it take to reach around the 
world.** He would make up and solve "mentally" the 
most intricate problems in interest, and when asked 
how he got the results, he would reply, "At first I 



12 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

thought it was so much ; but when I thought about it I 
knew it was so much." This was all he could tell 
of how he obtained his results, which were always 
correct. 

Surely a six-year-old boy who could make up and 
mentally solve problems like this might be counted as 
having an excess of ability to function in the mathe- 
matical plane. He had never been to school when he 
did this work, and had had no instruction in arithmetic 
to amount to anything. 

As a teacher, I had pupils who could not remember 
when they learned to read, they acquired the art so 
early in life. All primary teachers are familiar with 
similar cases. I have had pupils in the lower grades 
who, unaided, could draw pictures in correct perspec- 
tive, and who " had always done so." I have also 
known grade pupils who were walking cyclopedias of 
dates and events, but who did not have to make any 
special effort to acquire such proficiency. 

But I need not multiply instances of this sort in these 
strata of human life. All teachers of experience are 
familiar with them, and most parents know something 
of them. So, leaving these, I turn to similar phe- 
nomena in older people. 

One of the most remarkable cases of this sort that I 
have ever had personal knowledge of is that of Robert 
Gardenhire, a full-blooded negro, of Augusta, Ga. I 
became acquainted with this case through a classmate 
of mine, a former teacher, and so one well able to judge 
in the premises, and with his assistance I was enabled 
to make a thorough examination of the young man and 
to verify the remarkable phenomena his mental func- 
tioning exhibited. 



BORN LONG 



13 



At the time of our examination, this man was about 
twenty years old. He had been to school less than a 
year, all told. He could read and write a little, but was 
"wholly uneducated," in the ordinary meaning of those 
words. He was working in an oil mill, shoveling cotton 
seed at seventy-five cents a day, and that appeared to 
be as much as he could earn at such work — seemed 
about his limit of value in that direction. In a word, 
he was a very ordinary negro, so far as his general 
ability was concerned. 

When he was about seventeen years old people dis- 
covered that he was "bright in figures," and began to 
ask him questions. The result was that he soon ac- 
quired local fame, and almost every one he met would 
test his ability, till in a short time he became wonderfully 
expert in solving certain kinds of mathematical prob- 
lems. He was especially strong in multipHcation. 
Give him two factors to be taken together, and he would 
promptly give you the correct result. If the factors 
were only "two-placed" numbers, each, he would an- 
nounce the product instantly. If they were "three- 
placed " numbers, he would hesitate just a Httle before 
replying. The work was all done " mentally," that is, 
he never wrote the figures down. He could work a little 
with written numbers, but in such work he was very 
slow. This way of working was very distasteful to him. 
He hated it. 

To this unlettered negro my friend dictated thirty- 
three problems in multiplication. The gentleman him- 
self wrote the factors upon a sheet of paper, as he 
announced them, and then immediately set down, after 
each set, seriatim, the answers, as the young man gave 
them to him. In no case was there a delay of more 



14 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

than a second or two in giving these answers. The list 
of problems thus given and solved is as follows : — 



27 X 35 = 


945 


49 X 


349 = 17101 


91 X 86 = 


7826 


169 X 


337 = 38553" 


57 X 81 = 


4617 


17 X 


15= 255 


97 X 197 = 


19109 


19 X 


19= 361 


76 X 751 = 


57076 


96 X 


78= 7488 


71 X 91 = 


6461 


42 X 


37= 1554 


71 X 87 = 


6177 


37 X 


91 = 3367 


67 X 88 = 


5896 


67 X 


77= 5159 


76 X 78 = 


5928 


57 X 


791 = 45087 


96 X 17 = 


1632 


71 X 


851 = 60421 


27 X 187 = 


5049 


69 X 


546 = 37674 


97 X 998 = 


96806 


99 X 


999 = 97801- 


78 X 87 = 


7836+ 


4X 


1870 = 7480 


87 X 97 = 


8439 


17 X 


110= 1870 


72 X lOI = 


7272 


15 X 


12 = 180 


32 X 13 = 


416 


72 X 


110= 7920 


24 X 72 = 


1728 







I have verified these problems, and find there are 
three mistakes in the answers. ( You would smile should 
I tell how many mistakes I made in my calculations, in 
doing this proof work! Suppose you try it yourself, 
and see how you come out ! ) 

And this case, wonderful as it is, is only one of many. 
The similar case of Zerah Colburn has been well known 
to psychologists and professors of pedagogy for many 
years, and "lightning calculators" are as thick as side 
shows, the country over. 

Nor are such cases confined to mathematics alone. 
They crop out in nearly every other line of life that is 
known to humanity. 

Again, I know a blind boy who has the gift of " abso- 
lute pitch " in music. Strike any key on the piano and 
he will name the tone produced. Strike as many as you 



BORN LONG 



15 



will, even if that means every key on the board, and all 
at once, and he will name for you every key you have hit. 
Professor Frank Hall, of Aurora, 111., brought this case 
to my notice. 

I once met a girl of twelve who had such a poor sense 
of number that she could not count at all, and yet she was 
so skillful with a crochet hook that she could duplicate 
any pattern of crochet work that might be given her. 
She would even take a printed pattern of a piece of lace, 
as it appears in a needlework book or magazine, and 
produce the work perfectly with her hook and thread, 
though wholly unable to count a stitch, or to read a word 
of the printed directions. She also made original pat- 
terns which were of rare beauty. 

I have a record of a boy who was ready to enter college 
at nine years of age. He read Latin well at five, and a 
little later mastered French and German. He took de- 
light in differential calculus at eight, and was very fond 
of chemistry. The remarkable record made by William 
James Sidis is a similar case that all the world has 
recently been made familiar with. 

I have a young lady friend who was born blind. 
When she was about three years old, a skillful doctor 
removed the cause of her blindness, and she could see. 
As soon as she could use her eyes she began to read. 
She never had to be taught how to read, but read al- 
most everything fluently from the first. Before she 
was five, I put a copy of " Sartor Resartus " into her 
hands one evening, just to see what she could do, and 
she read page after page without a halt. 

But I need not multiply cases of this class. Time 
and space would fail me to tell of Mozart, and Millais, 
and Blind Tom, and Lope de Vega, and Tasso, and 



1 6 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

Webster, and hundreds of others, whose names and 
records are well known, and all of whom were notably 
"long" in some lines — were "born so," and were so as 
long as they lived. 

All these people and their similars are " long " in 
their ability to function in certain spheres of the mental 
plane. 

But, some one says, these cases are nearly all excep- 
tional; they are taken from the unusual walks of life; 
and hence their experience and records are not a fair 
measure to use on the rank and file. To which I reply 
these cases are phenomenal rather than exceptional. 
And I am impressed with the fact that there is no need 
of making even such a concession. For, when I note 
my own ability to function on some mental planes, I find 
myself as pronounced and exceptional as the rest, and 
the same is doubtless true in your own case, whoever 
you are. And when I look about amongst my neigh- 
bors, right here at home, I find that every one of them, 
even the humblest, is about as pronounced and excep- 
tional as you, or I, or any one. 

Thus, not to draw aside the veil of my own personality 
too far, and surely not to boast, I have always been 
" long " in the matter of remembering certain pieces of 
literature so that I could quote them. This memorizing 
at pleasure has never cost me any effort, nor does it 
do so to this day, provided the selection takes my 
fancy — strikes me right. If it does that, I can master 
it without trying to do so at all. I can repeat, as I 
would my alphabet, the nursery rhymes learned in my 
infancy ; and it is only a few days since I memorized a 
poem of sixty-four lines by hearing a public reader recite 
it a single time before an audience. Pieces memor- 



"BORN LONG" 1 7 

ized in that way I retain well, without any particular 
effort. It all depends on " how they strike me." If 
they "hit me hard," they stay with me. More than 
twenty-five years ago I heard Henry Ward Beecher 
deliver a lecture that greatly pleased me, and I could 
write several columns of it to-day, though I have never 
tried to memorize a word of it. This is a power that 
I have always had, from my earliest recollection, this 
ability to memorize certain things without effort. I 
was "born so," and that is the way I am to this 
day. 

And again some one says " exceptional." 

Well, two doors south of where I am writing, I had, 
for years, a neighbor who could discount me in this sort 
of "exception." He is a dry 'goods merchant, and a 
successful one too. I remember his coming over to my 
study one evening and quoting the whole of the " New 
Locksley Hall," when that poem first came out, after a 
single reading, and I am sure he could quote it to-day, 
with equal ease and accuracy. 

Two doors north of where I am writing lives a woman 
who can quote seven of Shakespeare's plays, verbathn et 
literatim, and she never spent an hour in trying to mem- 
orize them. She will also repeat Browning by the thou- 
sands of lines, and is equally able to recite Walt Whitman, 
page after page. She is the wife of a bookkeeper and 
was for years a commercial stenographer. 

And again some one says " exceptional," and adds : 
" Take some instances from the commoner walks of 
life." Well, dry goods merchants and commercial 
stenographers are not regularly counted as among the 
intellectual " Four Hundred," but my experience is that 
this trait of excess of ability to function in some mental 
c 



1 8 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

plane extends through all the social strata and covers all 
sorts of mental ground. Thus, a street car conductor 
on the line that runs in front of my door has just com- 
pleted a steam engine that is so small that it can be 
entirely covered with a lady's thimble. He has built it 
at odd times, and "just for fun." He is not a pro- 
fessional mechanic. 

The man who takes care of my " home place " is of 
Irish extraction, born and reared on the " East Side " 
in New York City. Until he was sixteen, all the green 
and growing things he had ever seen or knew about 
were such as he saw in the City Hall Park. Yet I never 
met his equal as a gardener. He will coax the finest of 
vegetables, such as would baffle my very best efforts to 
produce, out of a soil and environment that I could get 
little or nothing out of. And yet I grew up on a farm, 
and was taught to do these things, while this man was 
reared on cobblestone pavements, in the region of Five 
Points. He and a weed cannot exist on the same acre, 
and he would sit up nights to nurse a drooping plant to 
vigor again. I would not, and the chances are that the 
plant would die if I did. 

For years we had in our kitchen (I'm surely within 
the range of the common walks of life now) a woman 
who was " long " on cooking. She had had no particular 
training in the art, but she *' loved to cook." This she 
could do to perfection, practically without any special 
effort or application, but because it was the joy of her 
life. She used to say it "just came natural" to her. I 
am sure it did. 

But I need not make this list longer. The truth is, I 
have rarely met a man, woman, or child who was not 
"long" somewhere. And if you, dear reader, will look 



"BORN LONG" 



19 



within and about yourself, you will find that your expe- 
rience and mine are very much alike. The cases you 
have seen and know about are not identical with those 
I have noted, but they exhibit the same principle. And 
that is enough. 



CHAPTER III 

SOME COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS 

Common Opinions regarding "Shorts" and "Longs" — How 
" Shorts " regard " Longs " and " Longs " regard " Shorts " — 
Why both are wrong — Sumner and Gardenhire compared — 
Wendell Phillips on Sumner — Gardenhire and Heredity — Zerah 
Colburn — Blind Tom — Grant as Soldier, Statesman, and Finan- 
cier — Similar Cases — The very " Long " apt to be very " Short " 
in some Places, and vice versa — Applications drawn from these 
Comparisons — " Shorts " not " Fools " — Why Names of People 
who are "Short" cannot be given — Wrong Opinions regarding 
" Longs " — Personal Applications of the Principle. 

And now, having given these lists of ** shorts " and 
"longs," having shown that there are such phenomena 
as lack and excess of ability to function in certain 
spheres of the mental plane in human experience, I wish 
to make a few comparisons in the premises and to note 
some conclusions that are very apt to follow naturally, 
though I think wrongfully, in cases such as I have 
noted. 

In the first place, I wish to emphasize the fact that it 
is a very common conclusion that, if any given person 
is pronouncedly "short" or "long" in some particular 
line of ability to function mentally, he or she is also 
equally short or long in all other ways. Such conclu- 
sions are especially prominent with all of us when we 
compare other people with ourselves. 

If you, dear reader, are a good mathematician, if 
arithmetic was always the delight of your life, and 

20 



SOME COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS 21 

algebra likewise, and you learn, in some way, that a 
neighbor or an acquaintance of yours can hardly add a 
short column of figures correctly, the chances are many 
to one that your opinion of that neighbor or acquaint- 
ance will be lowered not a little by such discovery. Or, 
if you are a good speller, naturally so, and you get a 
letter from some correspondent in which there are mis- 
spelled words, the probabilities are that you will set the 
writer down as an " ignorant person," to say the least. 
But if you are " short " on mathematics and come across 
some one else who cannot add, you do not look down on 
such a one. You sympathize with him — you know just 
how it is yourself. The same is true if you are a poor 
speller. You are " drawn to " any one in like case. 

Again, if you have no " knack " in some line of work, 
if you are "short " in some particular way, and you come 
across some one who is "handy" or "long" just there, 
the probabilities are that you will be filled with wonder 
and amazement that such person can do what he does 
so easily, and you will be very apt to leap to the con- 
clusion that he can do everything else just as readily ! 
Before you read further, please stop, just an instant, 
and think out how these things are in your own particu- 
lar case. Such brief introspection will help you to 
comprehend better all that I say hereafter. 

What I wish to urge is, that all such conclusions, and 
such feelings of disgust or amazement, are wrong, though 
they are as natural as that water should run downhill. 
The sympathetic feelings of like for like are all right, but 
not the others. 

To make this point clear, I am going to make a few 
comparisons from some of the cases I have noted. 

To make one of the most startling comparisons first, 



22 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

put the cases of Charles Sumner and Robert Gardenhire 
side by side. Sumner had no mathematical ability that 
was worthy the name. Gardenhire could solve, " men- 
tally" and instantly, problems that it would have taken 
Sumner hours to " figure out," with the chances that even 
then they would be wrong. Judged mathematically, and 
by that ability alone, the colored man would be ranked 
as far the mental superior of the statesman. And yet ! 

The point I wish to make is that it would be unfair to 
either party to judge him wholly by his lack or excess, 
by his "short" or "long" ability. Sumner was little 
more than imbecile, mathematically; but I remember 
hearing Wendell Phillips, in his lecture on Charles Sum- 
ner, tell how, just after he had graduated from Harvard, 
he made a trip to London ; and though at that time he 
was only " a briefless lawyer," yet his fame as one skilled 
in the knowledge of the law had so preceded him that the 
Supreme Judges in England invited him to sit with them 
as they heard cases in court. And when a very unusual 
case came before these judges, one of them turned to 
Sumner and asked him if he knew any similar case in 
point. To whom young Sumner replied : " Your honor, 
in such a volume of your own reports, on such a page, 
you will find a like case ! " Think of this reply, and then 
compare it with what Professor Pierce said to Sumner 
about his mathematical inability ! 

As a matter of fact, it will be difficult for the reader 
to believe this story which Phillips tells of Sumner. It 
is so far beyond the experience of the most of us that 
we can hardly realize that it can be true. But I have 
no doubt of its truth. On his "long" side Charles 
Sumner was a most remarkable man. On his " short " 
side we like to draw the veil. So do we all Hke to hide 



SOME COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS 23 

our own " short " places ! What we ought to do is to 
be fair in both and in all cases. 

In the case of Robert Gardenhire, I have already- 
said that he was a person of very ordinary ability, out- 
side his special characteristic of unusual mathematical 
strength. Here is his signature, and it shows that he 
can barely write his name. As a day laborer, in the 

simplest sort of work, he could be only moderately suc- 
cessful. Yet is it not true that " one would naturally 
expect great things " of one who was so " mathematically 
bright" .? Most assuredly this is so. 

(There is another point, in this particular case, which, 
while not germane just here, I cannot refrain from men- 
tioning as of interest from an evolutionary standpoint, 
and that is, that this young man is a full-blooded negro; 
at least, he shows not a trace of white blood in his phys- 
ical appearance. The puzzling question is, from what 
ancestry did his " longage " come t This is something 
to ponder over !) 

So much was expected from Zerah Colburn that he 
was sent across the water to appear before the savants 
of Europe, in the hope that he might reveal something 
entirely new in mathematical methods. But in this he 
entirely failed. He could give no account of how he 
obtained his results, and he was of very limited ability, 
outside his specialty. 

The little girl I have mentioned, who could work such 
marvels with her crochet hook, was in an idiot asylum, 
though on the line on which she was " long " she could 
do what not one woman in a million could ever learn to 
do. She could not read, and she could not count. And 



24 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



yet she could crochet an intricate lace pattern from a 
picture of the piece. I never saw any other human 
being who could do this without " reading the direc- 
tions " and " counting the stitches," as the work was 
done. But this girl could make the lace without read- 
ing or counting, though she had never been taught how. 
She was '' born long " on that side. That was the way 
she was. 

And everybody knows that Blind Tom was entirely 
limited in his mentality, outside of his musical accom- 
plishments. Where he was " born long " he never had 
an equal. As a child, he showed signs of his rare 
ability. It was the way he was. But it was useless 
to try to get much of anything else into him or out of 
him, to develop him, to any extent, in any other direc- 
tion than in music. Here, he grew and grew. Here, 
but not elsewhere. 

Did you ever stop to think of the significance of the 
final chapter in the life of General Ulysses S. Grant.? 
There is no question but that, as a soldier, he was one 
of the greatest this world has ever seen. There is no 
need of eulogizing him on that score. But outside of 
his military attainments, he was a man of very ordinary 
ability. As a farmer he was a failure, as a statesman 
he was mediocre, and as a financier he stood at the 
bottom of the ladder. There is no more pathetic story 
in all history than the record of the Grant-Ward failure. 
But it is pity and not blame that one feels towards the 
great general as the details of that tragedy become 
known. It is easy to see now that he was a mere child 
in the hands of an unscrupulous promoter. If he had 
possessed even ordinary financial insight, he would have 
known, from the start, that nothing but ruin could result 



SOME COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS 25 

from the course the firm he was a member of pursued. 
But, on that side, he was so short that he could not see 
that King Lear was right when he said, *' Nothing can 
come from nothing." He was a great general. He was 
weakness itself as a financier. 

Or, take some others of the particular cases that I 
have reported. The woman who could not tell time 
was a most successful teacher; and the judge who was 
likewise short was remarkably able in his profession. 
He was one of the best Greek scholars I ever knew, 
and as a logician he was invincible. His decisions while 
upon the bench were almost never reversed, so perfect 
was his grasp of every point in any case he was called 
to pass upon. 

But now, truly, if you were a school director, and a 
teacher should make application to you for a position, 
and you should happen to find out that she could not 
tell time, would not that fact tend to make you reject 
her application; would it not almost force you to con- 
clude that she could not possibly be a good teacher.?. 
Or, if you had a case in court, would you not hesitate 
to have it come before a judge who had to ask some 
one else when it was time to adjourn } You would be 
far above the average of humanity if you did not brand 
both these people as " fools." 

Yet this teacher was not a fool, nor was the judge a 
fool, nor was Charles Sumner, nor was General Grant, 
nor was Louis Agassiz, or any of the rest. They were 
simply " short " where others are ** long," and it would 
be entirely unfair and unjust to them to judge them 
from their "short" sides. 

The fact is, we are all both ** born long " and " born 
short" on some lines. 



26 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

And beyond doubt this also is true, that, where one 
is born very " long " on some one line, such a person is 
quite apt to be very "short" on some other line, and 
vice versa. This is true of all the cases I have just been 
considering in detail. But it is equally true that the 
great bulk of humanity have, each and all, their ''long" 
places and their ** short" places, their natural bents of 
mind. 

To emphasize what I have just said, I cannot help 
noting some further details of the cases mentioned. I 
want to make it very plain that people who are very 
"short" in some regards are by no means weak in 
others; and also to prove that they have a right in 
the procession, often in the front rank. 

I wish I could give you the name of the teacher who 
cannot tell her right hand from her left without special 
mental effort. She is a woman who has made a na- 
tional reputation in her primary work, and in that line 
she has no superior, anywhere. And so of the college 
president who has a touch of the same shortage. 
Should I write his name here, you would recognize it 
at once as that of a man who has been honored by the 
teachers of this country as only a very few men have 
ever been. He worthily stands in the front rank 
among the educational leaders of America. So, too, 
of the LL.D. who cannot spell. His name is famous 
on more than one continent. 

Why is it, then, that I must not mention the names 
of the people spoken of in this last paragraph .-* The 
answer is easy. They are all living, and if their names 
were told it would greatly lower them in the esteem of 
many people who know them. If I were speaking of 
where they are " long," I might sound their names with 



SOME COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS 



27 



a trumpet, and the chances are that all who heard would 
hasten to conclude that they were " intellectual giants," 
every one, and in every way. But if I tell of where 
they are " short," their names must be concealed. I 
shall return to this fact later and note its further sig- 
nificance. Meantime, let the reader note it well, and be 
cautious as to the conclusions he forms from the com- 
parisons he makes when considering the " shortages " 
and '' longages " in his fellow men — and in himself ! 



CHAPTER IV 

NASCITUR NON FIT 

The Maxim too Narrow — The Universality of Congenital Gifts and 
Deprivations — The Way we are — Genius vs. Hard Work — 
"Winners" must have Native Ability — The Real Basis of Suc- 
cess in any Given Calling — Cases in Point — Locomotive Fire- 
men — Merchants — Square Pegs and Round Holes — Training 
vs. Creation — Real Estate and Grammar — Virtue and Persever- 
ance — Lincoln's Advice to a Young Man — Endeavor without 
Comprehension — Practical Application of the Principle — Omnes 
Nascuntur^ 7tonfiuiit ! 

He was doubtless a wise and observing man who 
first wrote the words poeta nascitiir non fit, which, being 
interpreted, tells us that a poet is born, not made. The 
only criticism one can make on this remark is that it is 
too narrow. It not only does not tell half of the story, 
but it simply mentions a somewhat minor fact which is 
a part of a general law. For the fact is that all men 
are born and not made ! 

So far as I have been able to observe, every one who 
was ever born can do some things much more easily 
than he can do some other things, and he ''always 
could." Or, t put it the other way about, it is more 
difficult for him to do some things than it is for him 
to do some other things, and it was "always so." That 
is, to every indiv'dual there are given, from birth, cer- 
tain abilities to function in certain mental planes ; from 
every individual, .from birth, there are denied or with- 
held certain abilities to function in certain mental 
planes, and to do \the things thereunto related. 
\ 28 



\ 



NASCITUR NON FIT 29 

Does this proposition seem startling? It surely is 
so. But the issue is not there. It is really irrelevant 
whether it be astounding or commonplace. The only 
question worth while is, what are the facts in the case ? 
These established, the next question is what to do, 
these things being as they are .'' 

Now I am well aware that it is a popular theory, 
especially in this ** land of the free," that any man can 
do anything he undertakes to do whether he " has any 
head " for it or not, if he tries hard enough and keeps 
trying long enough. This idea has been carried so far 
as to elicit the statement that even " genius is only an 
appetite for hard work." 

This sentiment may be popular, but the experiences 
of humanity prove to every thoughtful individual that it 
is not true. Ask yourself if it has proved true in your 
own case. Then look about among your neighbors and 
acquaintances, and see if it has proved true in their 
cases. Never mind about what "some one says!" 
The evidences that you and I are aware of are as good 
as any ! Consider these well, and then give an honest 
verdict. 

My opinion is that the net result of your observations 
will establish the conclusion in you that, while hard work 
and devotion to business are among the best means in 
the world for securing success; yet, e-^^ 1 they will not 
bring that result unless the striver and worker has some 
sort of ''head" for what he is trying to do. At least, 
this is true, that, if one has a head for what he is work- 
ing for, his chances for succeeding are many fold better 
than they would otherwise be. Even the admission of 
so much is all that is necessary — is enough to estabHsh 
my point. 



30 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



Now the fact is that if you will go into any walk of life 
and talk with people who know about the details of that 
especial way of living and doing — what are the require- 
ments for success therein, and who are worthy to be 
reckoned as worth while and at the fore, — you will be 
told by such people who know, that ** winners in our Ihie 
must be born and not made ! " There is not a single 
exception to this statement. I have tested it a thousand 
times, and it always comes out the same way. Try it, 
and my conclusion will be yours. 

And yet, the popular theory is that these things are 
not so. Every successful man knows that in his special 
line of work those who are "the real thing" must be 
born and not made ; but he has a theory that the same 
principle does not hold true in other spheres of labor. 
Every successful doctor, engineer, architect, farmer, 
teacher, stock breeder, brick maker, hotel keeper, 
chicken raiser, rat catcher, musician, cook, sea captain, 
general, preacher, inventor, author, financier, bookseller, 
insurance agent, and so on to the end of the line, up 
or down — all of them who know the details of their 
business and who are successful therein, to a man, will 
say, when speaking of their own line of work: "The 
winners in our line must be born and not made." 

In investigating these phenomena, I have been sur- 
prised beyond telling to find how far-reaching this prin- 
ciple is. There are lines of life that have seemed to me 
so simple and elementary that any one could master 
their requirements, especially if he tried hard to do so. 
But even here I have found the " born and not made " 
principle positively in evidence. 

I was talking once with a railroad manager whom I 
overheard telling one of his "traveling engineers" to 



NASCITUR NON FIT 



31 



look after a certain fireman on his division, and I heard 
him say : ** If he can't learn to do it, you'll have to let 
him go." And I said : " Can't learn to do what ? " 
To which the manager replied: '*To shovel coal into the 
fire box ! " 

"Do you mean to say," I asked, **that it is possible 
that a man can be found who can't learn to shovel coal 
into a locomotive furnace ? " 

And this is the answer I got : " Sure ! It is only 
about one in four who try to do it that can learn to do it 
right." And then he added: "A fireman has to be 
born, he can't be made ! " 

I had no idea that so apparently simple a matter as 
shoveling coal into a fire box demanded initial aptitude 
for such work, and I am quite certain that many who 
read these lines will pooh-pooh the statement. But if 
they will inquire of the men who know about such things, 
they will find it is only a plain, unvarnished tale that I 
have unfolded. 

And so it is in any line of work that may be named. 
The universal complaint amongst all classes of employers 
is that they cannot find people who have initial ability 
to do the work required of them. (I know a merchant 
who hunted the country over before he found a man who 
could do up packages to suit him.) It is said that only 
about four in one hundred who enter the mercantile pro- 
fession succeed in that calling. Ask any successful 
merchant why these fail, and he will tell you that they 
have no " head " for such work. The chances are that 
he will add : " A merchant must be born, he can't be 
made." And it is true. 

And so it is everywhere. The born-and-not-made 
principle is universal. 



32 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



Of course, there are many people, probably a large 
majority, who can do more than one thing well. There 
are not a few who are exceedingly versatile. But even 
the best of these have their ** short" places; there are 
things they cannot do well, — things they have no initial 
abihty to do, and which, if they are wise and are aware 
of their " shortage," they will not try to do. Think how 
it is with you. 

Under which circumstances, I beg to submit that I 
believe it to be universally true that any individual will 
succeed best in doing work that he has a natural " head " 
for, that he was '* born long " on, that he has initial 
ability to do. On the other hand, no individual can 
successfully compete va any calling in which he is *'born 
short," is not apt in, has no " knack " in pursuing. All 
of which is only saying that a square peg will not fit and 
fill a round hole as well as a round one will. 

But, it is contended, if the hole is round and the peg is 
square, make the peg round ! To which I answer, it all 
depends on the nature of the peg as to how successfully 
this can be done. And I might add that many a good 
square peg has been ruined in trying to make it round, 
and vice versa. The truth is, that, so far as human nature 
is concerned, it is far harder to make a natural shortage 
long than is generally conceded ; especially is it very 
much harder than some teachers and most professors of 
pedagogy generally will admit. There are reasons for 
this, which will be considered later. 

It is true, of course, that training can do much to in- 
crease efficiency, that culture can augment native power. 
What is not true is the claim that training and culture 
can create, de novo, abilities that are not inborn. Here 
is a fundamental psychological fact whose truth is 



NASCITUR NON FIT 



33 



generally denied in the pedagogical profession. And 
yet, so far as each individual who reads these lines is 
concerned, each one knows that the experiences I have 
stated are true in his or her case. Think, here, of your 
own experiences in this regard. 

I was talking, only last evening, with a very success- 
ful real estate agent of my acquaintance. We were 
speaking of " shorts " and " longs," and he said ; " I 
think I was 'short' on grammar. I graduated from 
the high school, but I didn't know a thing about gram- 
mar then, and I don't know now. I couldn't tell a verb 
from a noun now, to save my life. I was a good guesser, 
and I guessed my way through that study, from start to 
finish, so that they passed me, somehow. But I believe 
I could have been made to learn grammar if my teacher 
had gone at me hard enough," he went on to say, "and 
I'll tell you why. One evening my teacher made me 
stay after school to learn the list of pronominal adjec- 
tives. Now I have no more idea what a pronominal 
adjective is than the man in the moon. I hadn't then, 
and I haven't now. But there was a game of ball called 
for half-past four that evening, and I had to pitch it, and 
I knew that my teacher meant business and that that list 
of words had to be learned before I could get out. The 
result was that I learned the list in twenty minutes, and 
I can repeat it to this day, though that was thirty years 
ago." And then he repeated the list to prove his words. 

And I said : *' Have you ever made any use of this 
list of words in the thirty years you have been able to 
repeat them ? " 

And he replied: " No, but I learned 'em ! And if I 
could be made to learn them, why not the rest of the 
grammar ? " 



34 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



Upon which I thought, cui bono f but I said not a word. 
Silence is sometimes golden. 

Later, this same man told me that, in the hundreds of 
deeds he had written in connection with his real estate 
business, not once had he ever gone to a record to find 
out the description of any piece of land he was deeding. 
He said : '' Whenever I handle a piece of land, the first 
thing I do is to get my foot on it, to see just where it is ; 
and, after that, I can always remember the description of 
it. In the hundreds of deeds I have written I have never 
looked up a record, and I have never made a mistake." 

Then I asked him if he thought he could write a 
grammar in a similar way, and with equal accuracy t 
Whereupon he laughed me to scorn, and said : "If I 
should live to the age of Methuselah, and study grammar 
all the time, I don't think I should ever know enough 
about it to give an intelligent opinion on the subject." 

I asked him if he thought he could have competed 
successfully as a grammar maker or teacher, and then 
he was silent. There are times when " only silence is 
fully expressive." 

I have taken space and time to report this case fully, 
because it is so perfect a type of a widely distributed 
feeling and belief amongst multitudes of people. To 
this man it seemed an easy thing to write deeds as he 
did, to remember the exact description of every piece of 
land he had ever handled. He told me he believed I 
could do it, that I surely ought to be able to, since I 
could repeat a poem of sixty-four lines from hearing it 
once ! But when I asked him why he did not remem- 
ber poetry as well as he did descriptions of land, he 
replied : " I wasn't born that way ! " 

And I said : ''The argument is closed." 



NASCITUR NON FIT 



35 



This man is a successful real estate agent because 
he can utilize, in that business, his excess of ability to 
function in a mental plane that fits his business per- 
fectly. In such a line of work I should have failed 
ignominiously. I could not, to-day, give a description 
of the piece of land I have lived on, though I have paid 
taxes on it for a quarter of a century, and so have seen a 
written description of it at least once a year for that length 
of time. I was not born to remember data of that sort, 
and no amount of training could fit me to compete in 
the real estate business with a man who has such a 
head for that sort of thing as my friend has. 

Here, then, is my conclusion, namely, that experience 
proves that it is not wise for any man to base the motive 
of his life work on the theory that he can do one thing 
just as well as he can another, if he only tries hard 
enough and keeps trying long enough. The sane thing 
to do, in every case, is for each individual to take ac- 
count of his own initial abilities and inabilities, where 
he is ''short," and where he is *'long," and plan his life 
work accordingly just as far as his environment will 
permit him to do so. 

The fact is, there has been any amount of false teach- 
ing on this point, to the effect that the harder it is for 
one to do any particular thing the more virtue there is 
in doing just that thing, and the greater will be the 
returns to the doer in the way of added strength and 
increased ability. It is true that added strength comes 
from overcoming resistance, to a certain degree; but 
there is a limit to the principle, and that limit is reached 
when the person attempting to overcome such resistance 
has not enough understanding of the situation to attack 
intelligently the forces against which he strives. 



36 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

There was great sense in the words Mr. Lincoln once 
wrote to a young man who asked him to map out his 
life's work for him. Lincoln wrote : " An intellige^it 
perseverance is the surest guarantee to success in life." 
That tells the whole story. It is not only essential to 
persevere, but to do so intelligently. And when a per- 
son is born so short in a given line that he has no intel- 
ligence to bring to bear on the issue, his struggles to 
succeed lead only to disgust and despair. Such a per- 
son simply strikes blindly, and he is just as liable to 
wound himself as he is to break down the barriers he is 
trying to hurl himself against. The pity of it all is 
beyond telHng, and we have all seen such cases, time and 
again. Fortunate are we if we have not had many such 
experiences ourselves. Most of us have had them, to a 
greater or less degree. 

So it turns out that the best results will come to any 
individual by having him move out strongly, resolutely, 
in lines of life on which he is " born long," for which 
he has innate aptitude, where he has an excess of abihty 
to function in the particular mental plane involved. 

The world has no use for blunderers; and he who 
tries to run without eyes to see where he is going will 
surely fall into the ditch. The wise thing to do is to 
test one's vision before beginning the race, and to be 
willing to accept the verdict of such bringing to the 
proof. If that shows you are blind, then do not try 
ways that require eyesight as a requisite for success 
therein. Test ears, hands, voice, everything — find out 
where you are "short" and where **long," and then 
true your life work by your native ability, just as far as 
it is possible for you to do so. 

The color-blind boy of my youthful acquaintance 



NASCITUR NON FIT 



37 



never made an artist. He could not. Neither did the 
little monotone girl become a singer. She could not. 
General Grant did not become a financier. He could 
not. Sumner did not become a mathematician. He 
could not. My real estate friend did not become a 
grammarian. He could not. I have never glistened as 
a Latin and Greek scholar. I could not. You have 

never (fill this line out to 

suit your own case). You could not. You were not 
born that way. Neither were any of the rest of us 
born to do the things we have not native wit enough to 
work at intelligently. 

And so the man who wrote poeta nascitiir, non fit 
wrote too small. He should have written Omttes nas- 
cuntur, non fiunt. (I got a friend who is ''long" on 
Latin to universalize this sentence for me, so I think 
it is right, though I cannot say it is, of my own 
knowledge.) 

I shall return to some of the issi^es involved in this 
chapter, in a later part of this book, but I have said 
enough here to serve present purposes. 



CHAPTER V 

HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE? 

Pertinence of this Query — Glass and Copper as Electric Conduc- 
tors — How, not Why, the Issue — A Tentative Hypothesis — 
Mental Functional Ability determined by Bodily Conditions — 
What is the Human Mind? — The Mind one Thing, and the 
Body another Thing — The Body a Means through which the 
Mind functions — The Brain a Machine which the Mind uses — 
An Analogy — Musician and Piano — Mind and Body — The 
Nervous System and other Bodily Organs — Relative Value of 
these as Factors in Mental Functioning. 

Perhaps some of my pragmatic readers may remark 
as they note the heading of this chapter : " Never mind 
how it is that these things are. If they are, they are, 
and that settles it. What is the use of speculating as to 
the modus operandi in the premises ? " 

To which I reply that a study into the way things 
work has resulted in great good in this world. It is 
true that no one ever has, or ever can arrive at the 
absolute ultimate cause of any phenomenon, physical or 
otherwise. No one can tell why it is that copper is a 
good medium for conducting a current of electricity while 
glass is not. Yet a knowledge of these facts is really 
worth while, and to ignore them is worse than folly. 
One would hardly sin should he say that any man is a 
fool who should attempt to force an electric current 
through glass, or who should try to insulate himself 
with a casing of copper ! 

If we can find out how things are, how the forces 
that do things work, there is a possibility of our con- 

38 



HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE? 39 

trolling the action of such forces, in a measure, at least, 
and of utilizing for good what might otherwise be harm- 
ful or fatal. Franklin's fundamental discoveries as to 
how lightning behaved have led to great results. No 
one has ever found out why lightning does as it does, 
but the knowledge of how it does is of value. 

It is not impossible that a speculation regarding the 
phenomena of "shorts" and ** longs," as exhibited in 
humanity, may also lead towards something worth 
while. It is for such reason that I present this and the 
immediately following chapters. In doing so, I am not 
claiming that I am a second Franklin. All I am anx- 
ious to do is to seek for the truth as Franklin sought 
for the truth. 

Now, I am not much given to speculation, and yet, 
as the years have gone on, and as I have observed so 
many hundreds of these "long" and "short" cases, I 
have been forced to formulate some theory as to the 
how and wherefore of these widespread phenomena. 
And while, frankly, I have not as yet arrived at any 
positive conclusion in the premises, yet I have a ten- 
tative hypothesis which I am going to set down here, 
with the hope that the reader will help to verify or to 
disprove it. 

In a word, then, I am very strongly inclined to the 
belief that these wide variations in individual make-up 
are, for the most part, at least to an extent far beyond 
what has generally been supposed, seated in the body 
— that they are the result, in most cases, if not in every 
one of them, of body differences, and not of ultimate 
mental differences, in the individuals in which they 
manifest themselves. I am not yet prepared to say, 
positively, that this is so ; but I do say, quite emphati- 



40 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

cally, that I very strongly suspect it is so, and that the 
longer I live, and the more generally and closely I ob- 
serve the phenomena involved, the more I am confirmed 
in the correctness of my surmise. Some of my reasons 
for so thinking are as follows : — 

Of course, the whole issue turns on the basic question 
as to what the human mind really is, and this is not an 
easy thing to find out. The wisest men of all the ages 
have had their theories about it, and they have differed 
on this point as far as the poles are sundered. I have 
neither the time, space, strength, nor patience to attempt 
here any resum6 of what all these have thought, written, 
and said; still less do I flatter myself that I am wiser 
than any one or all of these; or that I can make as 
clear as daylight that which so many before my time 
have only succeeded in making cloudy. But I have a 
few ideas to submit for you to think about, and to have 
you bring to the proof, to the best of your ability. For, 
as has been well said, "a theory, to be of any account, 
must tally with the amplitude of the whole earth " ; 
and you and I and the facts that we can present are a 
part of that amplitude. 

In the first place, then, my own experience with my- 
self (and that is a good place for us all to begin) and 
my observations of my fellow men lead me to believe 
that the body is one thing and that the mind is another, 
and a wholly different thing. How do you feel about 
that, dear reader.? How does it tally with your own 
experience in the premises ? I don't care even to ask 
how it tallies with what you may have been taught, or 
have learned from books, or have been led to think, 
from any other source than your own ultimate self. All 
I am anxious about is, how it squares with your own 



HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE? 41 

experiences and observation. Settle that, and then we 
will move on. 

I, personally, am fully convinced that the body and 
the mind are not one and the same thing. They are 
different things, and each plays its separate part in the 
phenomena in question. To me, the body is merely a 
means through which the mind expresses itself in time 
and space. It is a machine which the mind energizes 
and causes to act. It is a medium through which the 
mind functions ; and the lack or excess of ability of the 
mind to function in any given plane depends upon the 
perfection of the medium as a means of transmitting 
the mind force in that particular field. 

I am not a materialist. I do not even believe that 
'* the liver secretes bile " ; much less do I believe that 
*'the brain secretes thought." I would rather say that 
the brain is the means through which the mind makes 
thought manifest, just as the liver is the organ through 
which bile is made manifest. In either case it is a 
force other than the organ itself which functions through 
the organ, or causes the organ to function. 

The best guess that I can make about the combina- 
tion is, that the thinker, — the mind, the ego, or what- 
ever else you may choose to call it, — that which is the 
real self, — that this is the power behind the throne, 
as it were, and so is the ultimate cause of all those 
manifestations that come to the surface through the 
human body. These things make me believe that the 
body is only the machine through which the mind acts. 
It is the medium by means of which the ego can express 
itself in time and space. 

I know that analogy is a dangerous guide to go by, 
but I use one here at a venture, not for the sake of 



42 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



trying to force a point, nor insisting that it is wholly 
conclusive, but in the hope of more clearly illustrating, 
perhaps, what I am trying to say. 

A musician and a piano are not one and the same 
thing. Each uses the other, each is of value to the 
other. But the piano is only the machine through 
which the musician expresses himself, — makes himself, 
his art, manifest in time and space. There is no music 
in the piano, per se. The music is all in the musician 
who sits at the instrument. 

But, no matter how good the musician who sits at 
the piano may be, if the instrument be imperfect or 
unstrung, he can get no music out of it. You may 
say, ''turn your figure around, and then see what 
comes of it ; namely, no matter how good the piano 
may be, if the player is a fool he will make no music." 
You have a right to ask me to turn the figure around, 
and I will do so. But first, let me take it my way, 
for a while. I will consider it the other way around 
later on. 

I have come, then, to think of the mind and the 
body as related to each other something after the 
manner of the musician and the piano. The mind 
plays upon the body, uses it, makes itself manifest 
through it. And, just as the strings and keys of the 
piano are nearest in touch to the musician, are the parts 
of the machine that he is most in contact with, so the 
brain and the nervous system of the body are nearest 
to the mind, and most directly connected with it. It is 
through these physical organs that the mind acts. All 
the other parts of the piano sustain the strings and the 
keys, and make them available for their especial work. 
All the other parts of the body sustain the brain and 



HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE? 43 

the nervous system, and make them available for their 
especial work. 

I do not wish to carry the analogy too far, but I be- 
lieve that it can be pushed safely one point farther. For 
instance, some of the comparatively less essential parts 
of the piano may be in bad shape, or altogether wanting, 
and still the piano may be made to discourse fairly good 
music. A leg may be broken, or the cover cracked, or 
the ivory from a key altogether gone, and still the 
essentials of the instrument may not be much affected. 
But if the peg, or hammer of a key be wanting; or, 
worse than this, if a string be run down or broken — 
then there can be no music gotten from that piano, so 
far as that key or that string is concerned. You may 
use other keys and other strings, on this same instru- 
ment, and get as beautiful tones as ever came from a 
m.usical machine ; but as soon as you touch the broken 
key, or the untuned string, you get only discord, or no 
response whatever for your stimulative effort, which, 
under right conditions in the instrument, would produce 
harmony. 

Good people, so far as my own experience goes, and 
so far as my observation among my fellow men extends, 
the analogy holds good, so good that I feel almost as 
though there could be little need of saying anything 
further upon the subject. To me it seems clear that 
this relation between the musician and the piano is al- 
most perfectly typical of that which exists between the 
mind and the body. And yet, to make myself thor- 
oughly understood, I shall have to go somewhat more 
into detail in considering the human side of the com- 
parison. 

In the first place, it is now a well-known fact that 



44 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

the brain and the nervous system of the body are the 
especial organs through which the mind more immedi- 
ately acts. This is particularly true of the brain, and to 
a large extent of the nervous system. More than this, 
the most recent discoveries regarding the functions of 
the brain have proved that certain parts of this organism 
are especially related to, or have specially to do with 
the reception and translation of stimulative forces that 
affect the body from without. That is, there is a cer- 
tain part of the brain that has to do with the sense of 
hearing, another with the sense of sight, another with 
the taste, another with smell, and so forth. If you 
remove one of these special parts of the brain (and such 
often have been removed, or made ineffective by acci- 
dent, or knife, or disease), it is no longer possible for the 
sensation which that part of the brain has to do with 
to be experienced at all. Thus, if the part of the brain 
which has to do with sight is removed, or rendered 
inoperative in a given individual, it is no longer possible 
to see. No matter how perfect the eye of that person 
may be, he cannot see. And so of any part of the brain 
having to do with the other bodily sensations. If any 
part is wanting, or imperfect, it is impossible for normal 
results to be obtained for the individual, wherever these 
faulty places appear. 

Further, not only may imperfect results come from 
bad brain conditions, but the same unfortunate experi- 
ences may arise from the failure of the nerves and 
nerve centers to do their appointed tasks. Thus, a 
nerve may be diseased, or paralyzed, or its proper blood 
supply interfered with, so that it cannot work normally, 
and under such conditions it is impossible for the indi- 
vidual suffering from such malady to do what could 



HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE? 45 

easily be done but for these obstructions. If, in a given 
case, the nerves of the eye are in bad condition, the 
person who tries to use the eye cannot do so success- 
fully ; his sight will be more or less affected, according 
to the degree of the imperfection in the nerve system 
involved. No matter how perfect the eye itself may be, 
if the nerves are imperfect there can be no clear sight. 
The whole body will be full of darkness. And so of 
any other organ ; if its nerves are bad, it is impossible 
for it to do what it could do under normal conditions. 

Or, go a step farther. If other parts of the body, — 
the bones or the muscles which support the nerves and 
brain, — if these be imperfect, or interfered with to a 
sufficient degree, such disturbance will affect the nor- 
mal working of the mind through its medium. If the 
skull be crushed, the brain is made inoperative. If the 
muscles that make the heart beat should be cut, or 
made powerless in any way, it is needless to say that 
the effect of such physical injury would be at once 
manifest in the mental functioning power of the person 
suffering from such a cause. Of course both these 
illustrations are at the extreme of possibilities in their 
respective directions ; but I have purposely chosen them, 
so that there could be no chance for doubt or question 
in the premises. No one will dispute that a person 
with a broken head or a still heart will be unable to do 
very much clear and definite thinking. And that is the 
point I am after just now. I take it that so much is 
settled. 

But now note that all the organs that I have men- 
tioned — the brain, the nerves, the bones, the muscles, 
etc. — are all of the body. They all correspond to the 
various parts of the piano — the strings, keys, sounding 



46 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

board, framework of the instrument, etc. My point is 
that, just as, when some essential part of a piano is 
imperfect, or what it should not be, or altogether want- 
ing, it is impossible for the musician to get good music 
from the instrument; just so, when some essential part 
of the human body is imperfect, or what it should not 
be, or altogether wanting, it is impossible for the mind 
to get good mental results through such a body. 

Having said which, my readers may ask : " Yes, but 
how does it happen that we have imperfect bodies to 
begin with ? Why are bodies brought into this world 
only partly made up ? " 

And the only answer I can make to such a legitimate 
question is that I don't know ! Neither do I know of 
any one who does know ! As I have said at the begin- 
ning of this chapter, there are limits to human knowl- 
edge, and a veil of mystery always closes down beyond 
the limits of finite vision. True, this obscure and tan- 
talizing barrier has been cleared away by modern sci- 
entific research at many points that were once counted 
as impenetrable ; and the enthusiastic labors of those 
who are now engaged upon the problem of eugenics 
give promise of doing something towards helping hu- 
manity to be better bodied from the outset some time. 
Let us hope that this may be the outcome of such 
endeavors. 

Meantime, it is only fair to say that, so far as this 
treatise is concerned, all this *' related matter " is " an- 
other story," as Mr. Kipling says ; and, being so, it is 
beyond the province of the issue I am discussing to 
consider it at all. 

I would begin and go forward from the point where 
the eugenic researcher begins and goes backward. He 



HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE? 47 

Strives to discover how bodies may be made better be- 
fore they come into this world. I would try to find the 
best ways of handling such bodies as we now have in 
stock, at this present now, so as to get the best results 
for those who inhabit them, through the already fur- 
nished physical media for mental functioning. The two 
problems are entirely distinct, and they must be worked 
out each in its own way. 

My theory is that bodily conditions, especially such 
as obtain at birth, greatly modify, limit, and determine 
mental functionings. I have already given some proofs 
to substantiate this position ; but more evidence, espe- 
cially on certain points, is needed to carry the argument 
to the point of positive conviction. I believe that I 
have such evidence in hand, plenty of it, and shall pro- 
duce it in the following chapters. Then I shall proceed 
to consider what such facts and conditions as I have 
estabUshed have to do with our attempts to educate all 
the children of all the people. 



CHAPTER VI 

SOME CASES IN POINT 

Localization of Functional Parts of the Brain — The Emotions — 
The Spiritual Powers — Idiots not "Feeble-Minded" — Limit- 
lessness of the Ego in All Mankind — The AbiHty to function 
mentally limited by the Body — Proofs of the Proposition — Con- 
genital and Adult Cases — Why Eyeglasses are worn — The 
Tangled Telephone — Conditions of Insanity — Dr. Bucke's Ex- 
periments upon Insane Women. 

We can now safely take the next step in this study, 
namely, that not only is it true that certain definite parts 
of the brain have specially to do with receiving and 
transmitting the bodily sensations of hearing, sight, taste, 
and the rest, as noted in the last chapter, but that it is 
probably equally true that the same conditions exist with 
regard to the subtler phenomena that have to do more 
particularly with the mind itself — the emotions and all 
the higher forms of mental expression. Thus, it is now 
a thoroughly established fact that a certain part of the 
brain has specially to do with the faculty of speech ; 
or, perhaps better, that speech is given expression 
through the use of a certain part of the brain. If this 
part of the brain be injured or diseased, the faculty of 
speech will be affected to a greater or less degree 
thereby. If it be entirely removed or paralyzed, speech 
becomes utterly impossible. And it has been demon- 
strated that such' a part of the brain can be removed, 
and still the patient may live. 

It is impossible to go as fully into details on this part 

48 



SOME CASES IN POINT 49 

of my theme as its importance really demands and as I 
should be glad to do if space permitted. There are 
volumes to be written on this branch of the subject 
alone. Several such have already been written, and 
more are coming, all the time. There are undis- 
covered countries, and unmapped regions, right here, 
that it is to be hoped will be found out and exploited in 
the not distant future. But the illustration just given 
puts us on the track of what we are pursuing. 

Entering a higher and still more subtle field of mental 
activity, it has now become a very general conviction 
among psychologists that there are parts of the brain 
that have to do especially with memory, particularly 
with some phases of memory. These convictions are 
based upon well-established cases of people who have 
suffered complete loss of memory, or of some particular 
memories, as the result of injury or disease of the 
brain. Such cases are not uncommon ; and often, 
where there has been such loss or eclipse of memory for 
a time, it has been made good again upon the restora- 
tion of the affected parts of the brain to normal con- 
ditions. 

Reasoning on the inductive basis from the facts just 
recited, it is surely a most natural inference that still 
other parts of the brain have to do with yet higher 
mental functionings — the feelings, the emotions, the 
spiritual sensibilities, and all the more subtle activities 
of the mind. For here, also, brain injury has often 
resulted in a change of mental expression in these 
particulars. It is a matter of common knowledge that 
hope has been stimulated or depressed, jealousy aroused, 
despair produced, devotion or worship incited or in- 
hibited, and so following, by some physical change 



so 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



made in some part or parts of the brain. Certainly 
this is true, that there must be cerebral action in con- 
nection with these mental activities or we should not be 
conscious of them ; and while the brain centers which 
have to do particularly with such phenomena have not 
as yet been definitely localized, the presumption is all in 
favor of their existence. Just as the atom and the 
electron have never yet been seen by human eye, but 
their reality can nevertheless be safely predicated; so 
the fact of the control of all mental expression by cer- 
tain parts of the brain, all in due order, may, with equal 
saneness, be at least inferred. 

Anyhow, I am so well convinced of the probability 
of the truth of this theory that I have based a mental 
hypothesis upon it; and the more generally I have 
observed the phenomena that this supposition is set to 
explain, the more I am convinced that my position is 
solid and sound. 

Now, with this theory as a basis, namely, that the 
ability to function mentally is largely determined by 
bodily conditions, in particular those that the thinker 
has been born with, it follows, first, that we have no use 
for the word " feeble-minded." It is a misnomer. Mind 
is never feeble; but bodies are poor, or half made up, 
or sometimes almost altogether bad. The word *' idiot" 
is a good word, in its original sense. It is the Greek 
word for "peculiar"; and, as primarily applied to a 
human being, meant a peculiar person, and that was all. 
And the fact is, we are all more or less — peculiar. 

It seems to me this way : The ego, the ultimate self 
in each one of us — in you, whoever you are, in me, in 
any and all, I leave out none — this ego is absolutely 
limitless. I believe that in you, whoever you are, in 



SOME CASES IN POINT 51 

your ultimate self, there are limitless powers and abili- 
ties, latent but none the less real, ready and waiting to 
express themselves, if only the bodily organs are suffi- 
ciently perfect to permit of their functioning through 
them. But — 

While all these qualities and powers are resident in 
every human mind and are a part of it, yet it by no 
means follows that they can all be expressed by each 
and every individual who possesses them. On the 
contrary, only such of them can find expression, in any 
given individual, as the brain, the nervous organism, 
and the other physical apparatus render possible in 
that particular person. There is the sum and substance 
of the whole issue, to the utmost limit. 

Because, you see, whatever may be true regarding 
the freedom of the abstract, or the ultimate human 
mind, this is certain and sure : That, conditioned in the 
human body, that mind is limited in its expression by the 
body in which it lives. It can only function in such 
mental planes as the physical organs through which it 
must act render possible. Drive a good stake there, 
and you can safely tie to it, I am very sure. 

If you have no eyes, you cannot see. But the ability 
to see, if you had eyes — that is an inherent power that 
you possess, and that you cannot be robbed of. If you 
cannot see, the fault lies in your body. At least, that is 
the way it seems to me. 

Take the case of the girl mentioned, who was born 
blind. For the first few years of her life she was wholly 
unable to see, not because she was not possessed of the 
innate ability to see, but because the physical organ of 
sight was imperfect in her case. A skillful physician 
remedied this defect, and just as soon as her eye was 



52 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

made single, her whole body was made full of light. 
Does it not seem clear, in this case at least, that she 
had the ability to see, from the first, and that the only 
reason why she could not exercise that ability was be- 
cause an imperfection in her body interposed a barrier 
which this ability could not pass ? 

In further considering this phase of my theory I shall 
not confine myself to "born so" cases, but shall extend 
my observations to the variations in mental phenomena 
and inability to function mentally that appear when 
bodily changes come to, or are made in, adults. All 
these cases are germane, in that they all tend to estabhsh 
the truth of my main contention, that " these things are 
in the body." This is my reason for extending the 
field of my observations into the adult realm. 

Thus, to begin at home, as I sit here writing I have 
a pair of glasses astride my nose. I have to have them, 
or I cannot see the marks I make on the paper under 
my hand. But now, why is it that I cannot see without 
the glasses, and can see with them .'' Have I myself, in 
my inmost essential being — have I lost the ability to 
see when these glasses are in their case ? Not at all. 
I have as much ability to see now as I ever had, prob- 
ably more. But these eyes of mine have been so much 
used that they are getting worn out and have to be 
repaired, artificially reenforced, or I cannot see. The 
trouble is in my eyes, not in me at all. And so it is 
wrong to say I can no longer see well. That is not the 
way to put it. I should say that my eyes have so 
changed that I can no longer use them, that I cannot 
function through them, that they fail to convey to me 
true sensations of what they once correctly reported. It 
is a physical organ, and not a mental lack, that is at fault. 



SOME CASES IN POINT 53 

And sometimes eyes are, from the first, much worse 
than mine are now. Sometimes they are altogether 
wanting. But the ability to use eyes, when they and 
their physical belongings are all present and in good 
working order, is never wanting in a human being. 

You take down the receiver of the telephone some 
morning and put it to your ear, and you get no response. 
What is wrong ? Has electricity ceased to be, and has 
magnetism lost the power of attraction .? Not at all. 
These forces are as potent as they ever have been, or as 
they ever will be ; but there is something wrong with 
the instrument through which they are set to work, in 
this given case. There is a bad connection — a break, 
a crossed wire somewhere. The current cannot function 
through the medium as at present adjusted. That is 
all. Put the instrument right, and your telephone will 
work as perfectly as ever again. 

So in a case of adult insanity. Here is a person who 
has been rational for years, but one day he becomes 
insane. What is the matter .? Is there anything wrong 
with his mind .? Not at all. The man himself, the es- 
sential mind of the man, is all right ; but something has 
happened to the body through which the man has to 
make himself manifest. The nervous wires are crossed 
somewhere, or a brain connection is broken, and the 
mind force can no longer come through. If these 
breaks could be mended, the man would be sane again; 
he would " come to himself " once more. 

To any one who has studied the phenomena of in- 
sanity, it seems to me there can be no doubt that this 
malady is seated wholly in the body. I knew a woman 
who was hopelessly insane for twelve years. At the 
birth of her second child she had puerperal fever, and 



54 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



this resulted in insanity. For twelve years she was in 
an asylum, and for a considerable portion of that time 
she was a raving maniac. By a change in the manage- 
ment of the hospital a new physician was placed in 
charge of her case, and his diagnosis was to the effect 
that her trouble all lay in some abnormal condition of 
the reproductive organs. Pursuant to this theory, he 
caused the patient to be submitted to a surgical opera- 
tion, out of which she came sane, and she has remained 
sane ever since, a period of some fifteen years. 

Can anything be clearer than that, in this case, the 
whole trouble was seated in the body .'* Here was a 
woman who had been sane, who had a " brilliant mind," 
as the phrase goes, and who had been able to use it 
satisfactorily till she was twenty-five years old. Then 
she became insane, and for twelve years she was wholly 
unable to use her mind in any normal way. Then came 
a bodily change, caused by a surgeon's knife. As soon 
as the woman came out from under the influence of 
the chloroform which rendered her unconscious during 
the operation, she was as sane as she ever was. Do 
you think a case like this proves nothing ? It seems to 
me it proves something. At least it is wonderfully sug- 
gestive, so far as my theory is concerned. 

Of course this case just quoted is by no means an 
isolated one, as all who are familiar with the subject are 
well aware. I must not dwell on this phase of the 
subject too long, but I must push it a little further. 

There lies before me an essay on this exceedingly 
suggestive theme, prepared by the late Dr. R. M. Bucke, 
who was for years in charge of the Insane Asylum at 
London, Ontario, Canada. This essay is entitled, " Re- 
sults of Two Hundred Surgical Operations on Insane 



SOME CASES IN POINT 



55 



Women." It was originally published in the Medical 
News for August, 1900. Dr. Bucke was one of the 
pioneers in physiological psychology, as especially re- 
lated to insanity, and his essay is a wonderful record of 
his achievements in that line. I cannot give even a 
resume of the essay here, but I commend it to any and 
all who are interested in that subject. In brief, he tells, 
in this essay, how eighty-three out of these two hun- 
dred women recovered from their insanity after under- 
going a surgical operation at his hands. Is not that 
something in point t Do not facts like these lead us at 
least very strongly to surmise that what we have been 
accustomed to call mental troubles are, as a matter of 
fact, really caused by bodily ills } Do they not tend to 
prove that it is a bad condition of the instrument, and 
not the musician's fault, that there are discords [in the 
musical world } 

Another very significant fact brought out by Dr. 
Bucke's essay is this : that where the trouble lay in the 
diseased condition of some exceedingly vital and highly 
sensitive organ, which was intimately associated with 
the mental and spiritual life of the patient, and this ill 
could be remedied, then, in such case, the chances of 
recovery of sanity were much greater than when some 
grosser, less vital, and less sensitive organ was involved. 
That is to say, if the trouble in a piano lies in a string, 
or key, and these can be put right, the chances of get- 
ting good music from the instrument because of such 
rectification are much greater than they would be if the 
source of the evil was located in some grosser part of 
the combination, and this should be more or less suc- 
cessfully repaired. The analogy may not be perfect, 
but it is at least suggestive. 



56 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

And this last stated fact from Dr. Bucke's essay leads 
me to conclude that the more highly sensitive the bodily 
organ may be whose abnormal condition causes insanity, 
in any given case, the greater the probability of recovery 
if the organ can be put right. All of which means that 
if surgery of the brain and higher nervous system can 
be wrought out as successfully as this same art has 
been developed in dealing with other parts of the body, 
much may be hoped for in the recovery of insane people, 
from this source. Indeed, great strides have already 
been made in this same direction, as there is ample tes- 
timony to prove. It is but recently that a case of in- 
sane jealousy that ran to the extreme of attempted 
murder was entirely cured by the removal of a tumor 
that was pressing upon the brain of the patient. There 
are many other cases on record, of a similar nature, 
where some brain trouble has been set right, and the 
patient who was insane was thereby restored to sanity. 
This field is comparatively new, as yet, but it is exceed- 
ingly interesting and suggestive, and the discoveries 
thus far made all tend to establish the truth of the 
theory that insanity is primarily caused by bad bodily 
conditions, rather than by direct trouble in the mind 
itself. 

This is not an essay on insanity, but I bring this 
phase of the subject in, just here, because it seems to 
me to point directly towards the truth of the theory 
that the varied expressions of individuality in humanity 
arise from bodily conditions; that the inharmonious 
conditions of human life result from imperfect instru- 
ments, rather than from mental disturbance, as such. 
The case is not yet fully proved, but there are a great 
many things that point towards such conclusion. These 



SOME CASES IN POINT 



57 



adult cases cited all tend to prove that my theory holds 
good in congenital cases as well. All the difference 
is that in one set of cases the hampering bodily condi- 
tions came before birth, in the other after that event. 
The cause is the same always. 



CHAPTER VII 

UNDER THE THRESHOLD 

The Subliminal Self — Origin of the Theory and Name — Myers' 
" Human Personality " — The Ability to " come through " — Cases 
reviewed from this Standpoint — What are the Conditions of 
Genius — Conditions of Idiocy — "A Fool for a Player " — Idiots 
All Bad-bodied — All can "come through" on Some Lines — 
Cranks — Definition of Genius — Geniuses Poor Teachers — Ulti- 
mate Mentality vs. Ability to Function Mentally. 

This may be getting into pretty deep water for the 
lay reader, but I am going a little farther along the 
way I have been traveling for the last two chapters, at a 
venture. 

The late Dr. F. W. H. Myers, of London, England, 
who was for years a leader among the mental philoso- 
phers and psychologists of Europe, gave to the world 
the phrase " the subliminal self," which, being inter- 
preted, means the self that is under the threshold, or 
below the plane of one's normal consciousness. His 
idea was that there is a great part of one's real self that 
never, or, at best, but seldom, or in spots, as it were, 
ever rises into the realm of our conscious being. He 
made a special study of what he held to be this veritable 
part of every man's mental make-up, as it manifests it- 
self in dreams, visions, hypnotic phenomena, trance con- 
ditions, and the like. The theory he promulgated has 
since been largely exploited in the line of suggestive 
therapeutics and mental healing. I wish to direct atten- 
tion to it in some other realms of human life, especially 

58 



UNDER THE THRESHOLD 



59 



such as have to do with the subject I have in hand, 
namely, education. 

Dr. Myers' idea was that all these mental phenomena 
are produced by an up-rush, so to speak, of the sub- 
liminal self, which, for good and sufficient reasons, 
that cannot be stated here for lack of space, rises into 
the realm of normal consciousness. Once in that plane, 
sometimes we can cut under what has appeared from 
below, and so retain in the normal memory a record of 
what has come to us in this way. Thus, according to 
this theory, a dream is only the working out of the part 
of one's self that is usually below the threshold of 
normal consciousness, but that, for the time being, wells 
up above that line. 

We are more or less conscious of what this part of our- 
selves does, in any given case, in proportion as we have 
more or less definite recognition of any particular dream. 
Sometimes this up-rush is so pronounced that it leaves 
a strong impression upon the consciousness, so strong 
that it will remain in the memory, and in such cases we 
can tell, on waking, what our dream was. But if the 
issue from below is less strong, we only remember that 
we have dreamed. His theory is exceedingly interest- 
ing, and he has recorded great numbers of instances to 
substantiate his position. If you are interested in this 
sort of thing, get and read his great work on " Human 
Personality." 

Now it seems to me that, in large degree, this theory 
of Dr. Myers' makes for the hypothesis I have espoused. 
In any event, it has led me to make some educational 
speculations. And here is the possibility that has sug- 
gested itself to me : — 

Experience leads me to believe that it is highly prob- 



6o ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

able, to say the least, that this subliminal conscious- 
ness of ours, which Dr. Myers holds to be by far the 
greater part of our ultimate selves, of everybody's ulti- 
mate self, exists in measureless supply in each one of 
us; and that it is unceasingly striving for expression in 
time and space through the medium of the body — " the 
round of flesh that walls us in," as Browning has it. 
Here, in a given case, it acts upon a mechanism of the 
body that is suited to its needs, and so can come 
through. There, in the same body, it comes up against 
an impassable barrier, in the shape of an imperfect or 
altogether wanting physical organism, and so has no 
means of making itself manifest. This occurs to me as 
being at least possible (and I think a good deal more 
than that), and for some years I have been observing 
mental phenomena and trying to make out how nearly 
this theory will account for them. And the more I 
observe and ponder, the more I am inclined to believe 
that this theory is headed in the right direction. 

For instance, to recur again to the case of the girl who 
was born blind. This child had, from the first, the 
innate ability to see, this being a constituent part of her 
essential self. But as that power strove to exercise 
itself, through her body, as it was at her birth, it came up 
against an impassable barrier in the shape of imperfect 
eye nerves. The result was that that part of herself 
which would normally gain expression through sight 
was made of none effect, and was, as it were, blotted 
out of existence. This case is a very simple one, but it 
stands for a great deal. 

This same theory holds good in the cases of insanity 
that I have noted. The fact seems to be that these 
people were no longer able to " come through," because 



UNDER THE THRESHOLD 6l 

of some physical imperfection in their bodies that their 
minds could not overcome. It also accounts for such 
phenomena as Robert Gardenhire exhibited. In his 
case, the physical organism that has to do with the 
expression of the mathematical part of himself is prob- 
ably in a most perfect condition ; and so, on that side, 
his subliminal mathematical self can come through 
without let or hindrance. In the case of Charles 
Sumner, the probabilities are that this condition was 
reversed, and the result was that he was able to func- 
tion but very little on the mathematical side, though it 
would seem, to the ordinary observer, that he had as 
much — yes, far more — innate mathematical ability than 
had this unlettered negro. Does it not look that way } 
I believe that the fact was that Mr. Sumner's brain was 
faulty in the part that has to do with mathematical ex- 
pression, and so he could not come through there, to 
any considerable degree. He was " born short " there ; 
he was born wonderfully "long" in other ways. 

The question is often asked. What are the conditions of 
genius } According to this theory, we will always have 
a genius whenever, in a given case, the brain and the 
nervous organism in the individual are so perfect, on 
special lines, that the infiniteness of the mind, on these 
lines, can express itself fully through the media fur- 
nished. In these cases there is no hindrance whatever 
to the complete expression of certain parts of the sub- 
liminal self through the physical make-up of the individ- 
ual body in which that particular ego is conditioned. It 
goes without saying that absolutely perfect illustrations 
of this condition are very rare, but most wonderful ones 
will readily come to mind. Mr. Edison is a most re- 
markable example, a marvelous one, in his particular 



62 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

lines of mental functioning. The list might be extended 
to great length, and in great variety, and I believe the 
theory would hold good in every case. 

Turn now to the other side of the picture, to those 
people who are the very reverse of geniuses, and whom 
we call idiots. The theory holds equally well with 
them. These people are all faulty in body, every one 
of them ; and I have no doubt that if their peculiar phys- 
ical faults and weaknesses could be traced closely and 
definitely enough, it would be found that they were all 
of such nature as to prevent certain functionings of the 
mind. It is their bad bodies and not their alleged feeble 
minds that cause their inability to express their real 
selves to any greater extent. 

I will say more about this later, but right here I want 
to answer the question proposed, some pages back, in 
which I was asked to turn my piano figure around, and 
tell what would happen if we had a good instrument, 
but a fool for a player. Discord and bad music would 
result, in the case of such a piano and such a player, 
surely. But, so far as humanity is concerned, no such 
condition has ever arisen or ever can arise. I challenge 
the whole world to disprove that statement. 

No one ever saw an idiot who had a normally con- 
structed body ! In all these cases, the instrument is 
bad, and where it is bad, bad mental functioning results. 
On the other hand, not infrequently, and in many ways, 
there are not wanting pronounced signs that the player 
is very far from being a fool. Here and there, there is 
a good string, and on such the musician can play. But 
so many parts of the instrument may be out of repair 
or altogether wanting that but little music can be 
made. But that the player can produce harmony at 



UNDER THE THRESHOLD 63 

all shows that it is the instrument and not he that is at 
fault. 

For instance, take the case of the idiot girl who could 
do such marvelous work in making lace with a crochet 
hook. Does this ability on her part suggest a weak 
mind ? — a fool for a player ? Not one woman in a mil- 
lion could ever learn, with the help of the best teaching, 
to do what this girl did, with perfect ease, without any 
instruction whatever. She was an idiot on some lines. 
She was a genius in one way. She was a wonderful 
player where her instrument was perfect enough to per- 
mit her to come through. She was terribly hedged in 
at nearly every other point of her being — points on 
which most people can come through with at least 
so much success that they are not particularly notice- 
able among the general run of humanity. 

And what is true of this girl is true of the majority 
of idiotic people. In almost every case, there will be 
found some expression of mental functioning which goes 
to prove that there is no lack of mental ability, in one 
or more directions. Did you ever know of such a case 
where it was not often said of the afflicted one, " Oh, 
he's sharp enough, in some ways .? " That is the whole 
story. These people are not feeble-minded. They are 
bad-bodied. This girl who could make lace had a queer- 
shaped head, and every idiot has a bad body, somewhere. 

Of course there are cases of this kind where there is 
almost no expression of mentality whatever, and in these 
cases the bodies are always bad in the extreme, espe- 
cially on the brain and nervous-system sides. These 
very bad bodies almost completely cut the mind off from 
any possibility of expressing itself ; and hence we have, 
in rare cases, complete idiocy. But I believe that even 



64 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

these cases are all caused by imperfect bodies, and not 
by feeble minds. 

And what is true of the bodily condition of idiots is 
very largely true concerning geniuses. Such people are 
always "peculiar looking." If their genius takes an 
outre form, so much so that they are called '' cranks," 
you will nearly always find them very peculiar-looking 
persons, a fact which points towards the correctness of 
the theory that I am trying to show the reasonable- 
ness of. 

As I have already remarked, it is sometimes said that 
genius is merely an appetite for hard work. The state- 
ment will not hold. It does not tally with the basic 
facts in the case. Any attainment that is gained by 
such a method is very far from being genius, in the true 
sense of that word. Some of the results reached in this 
way may resemble those of genius, but the process of 
their reaHzation is a different thing entirely from the 
ways of genius itself. 

Genius knows its own without direction, in and of 
itself ; and it has ways of arriving at its destination that 
the common lot of us know little or nothing about, and 
of which the genius himself can give no account. Zerah 
Colburn could not tell to any one how he arrived at the 
wonderful mathematical results which he obtained with- 
out effort, nor could Blind Tom explain how it was that 
he could reproduce a piano selection, half an hour long, 
after hearing it once played through. All that can be 
said is, that these people were both "born long," each 
in his own particular way. They were both true geniuses, 
of the genuine sort ; and I believe it to be a fact that 
the reason they could do as they did was, not because 
they were mentally stronger than the rest of us, but be- 



UNDER THE THRESHOLD 65 

cause their brain and nervous organisms were so perfect 
on the lines in which they gave their special expressions 
of power that there they could come through without 
a halt. 

The best definition of genius that I ever came across 
is this: ''Genius is the unconscious wisdom of people 
who are otherwise ignorant." To me that states the 
whole case, perfectly. When genius, the real thing, 
shows itself in an individual, the most we can say about 
it is that " that is the way he is." And that the bodily 
machinery through which such remarkable abilities ex- 
press themselves determines the extent, or the limita- 
tions, of such expression — of this there seems to be 
little doubt. 

(I can't help remarking, just here, because the truth 
of it is so evident from what I have just said, that a 
genius, or a person who is ** exceedingly bright" in any 
particular line, is always the poorest kind of teacher, 
because he can never tell, or explain to another, how 
he arrives at results. And to be able to show the way to 
obtain correct results is the very essence of successful 
teaching. Colburn could not teach mathematics, nor 
could Blind Tom teach music. I merely note the fact, 
in passing, for it is such a good one for teachers and for 
people who have to pick out teachers to remember, and 
one that is so often believed to be true in the very re- 
verse order of its actuality.) 

And so this is my theory regarding geniuses and 
their antipodes, and all of us who are between these 
two extremes. The way we are does not depend on our 
ultimate mentality, which is Hmitless in each and all, but 
on our ability to function mentally, to get the stream of 
mentality through the medium it must use if it reveals 



66 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

itself in time and space. And the range of this ability 
is determined by the more or less perfect condition 
of the bodily organ through which such functioning 
alone can be done. At least, this is how "it seems 
to me." 



CHAPTER VIII 

SOME DARKER STUDIES 

Widening the Field of Observation — Why Adult Cases are studied 

— Their Bearing on the Issues involved — Mental Errancy and 
Crime related Phenomena — '' Free Agency " and Human Respon- 
sibility — A Case of Gambling Mania — History of the Case — 
Insane Jealousy rectified by Brain Surgery — Criminals "Herds 
of Incompetents " — Treatment of Criminals and the Insane — 
Children and their Crimes — Smuggling — Criminals' Views of 
their Own Crimes — A Lawyer's Testimony — Jesus's View of 
These — Relative Power to " come through " of Desire and Will 

— Some Authorities on these Points. 

It is curious how fast, how far, and into what un- 
looked-for regions a theory once started may lead one. 
And so I find myself just here irresistibly compelled to 
push at least a little way into a realm that I had not 
thought of exploring when I first set out. The cases I 
am about to note are again more of the adult order 
than of the "born so" variety; but they are strongly 
in point as regards the main issue. Perhaps they might 
be counted as acute or temporary instances of condi- 
tions that are chronic in congenital cases. My chief 
reason for presenting them is because they multiply and 
intensify the proofs that " these things are in the body." 
Besides that, they will have a direct bearing on the main 
issue of this book when I reach that part of my story. 

And so it is that my investigations and theories as to 
what is the truth regarding the real, basic causes of 
genius, idiocy, insanity, and of all similar variations 

67 



68 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

from what we are wont to consider as normality in 
humanity, suggest the possibility that the same prin- 
ciples hold equally true regarding the causes of vice 
and crime, as these are manifest in mankind. That 
may appear, at first sight, as a very dangerous doctrine 
to announce, but this is not an issue of danger, or its 
opposite. The question is, What is the truth in the 
premises ? 

Anent which, let it not be forgotten that it is but a 
few years since insanity was looked upon as a crime, 
and insane men and women were strapped to the wall 
and lashed, as a penalty for what was counted as their 
deliberate wrongdoing. 

We talk about human responsibility, man's "free 
agency," and the like. Such themes are worthy to be 
considered, but — well, here are some cases that have 
made me think a great deal regarding such things. Read 
them, and then see what you think. And be sure that 
you think, and that you think for yourself. 

I once had a friend who served a term in the peniten- 
tiary for embezzlement. I make no scruple in saying 
that he was my friend, my very dear friend, both be- 
fore and after his incarceration. In many respects he 
was one of the best men I ever knew. He was truly 
generous and nobly self-sacrificing ; and he was truth- 
ful, and thoroughly reliable in most ways. But all the 
time I knew him he was a gambler. On that side of 
his make-up he was not to be trusted for an instant. 
He would gamble on anything, anywhere, at any time. 
On that point he had no conscience, no prudence, no any- 
thing, but an uncontrollable desire to try his luck on the 
game. He would risk all he had himself, and all that 
anybody else had that he could lay hands on, on the 



SOME DARKER STUDIES 69 

turn of a card or a throw of dice. That was how he got 
into the penitentiary. He happened to have a large 
amount of his employer's money in his pocket one day, 
and he risked it all, and lost. So he was " sent up." 

What about this case.? To me the man was insane 
on that side of his being. There, he could not see 
things as they really were. He had a mania for taking 
chances. He was as mad, on the line of gambling, as 
any patient in an insane asylum is crazy in any other 
direction. 

And I believe this unfortunate condition of his was 
seated in his body, just as much as is the case in any 
other kind of insanity. So far as I could learn his early 
history, he showed no sign of his madness in his earlier 
years. He was the son of a clergyman who was a man 
of great abiHty and of sterling worth. But, as a young 
man, he suddenly began to gamble. It became an un- 
controllable passion with him, and it is not putting the 
case any too strongly to say that he became gambling 
mad. 

Well, you say, what about it ? Was this man not re- 
sponsible for what he did ? Ought he not to be punished 
for his misdeeds } To which I reply, most assuredly he 
ought to be kept from injuring himself and other people 
by the exercise of his mania, just as other insane people 
have to be kept from injuring themselves and others by 
reason of their insanity. 

As things now are, we ** punish " such as him ; we 
brand them as criminals, we heap indignities upon them 
and expect, by so doing, to rid them of their sins. I 
blame no one for this ; but, to my way of thinking, the 
day is not so very far distant when we shall look back 
upon our present way of treating crime and criminals 



70 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

with as much horror as we would now shudder at strap- 
ping the insane to a wall and lashing them till the 
blood came. 

I may be wrong in this, but I don't think I am. 

Let me tell a little more of this friend of mine. 
After he came out of prison, he went to work for me (I 
was in a manufacturing business then) and he held his 
place as long as he was able to work at all. He died 
three years after his term of sentence expired. 

He was the best salesman I ever knew. In three 
years he legitimately earned more than ten thousand 
dollars, all of which he gave to a brother of his who, 
at my friend's request, acted as his trustee. That was 
the way he put himself out of the way of temptation. 
He would never allow himself to handle a cent of my 
money. We both knew it would not be safe for him to 
do so. It would have been unfair and unjust, both to 
him and to me, to have him try to do so. That way his 
weakness, his madness lay ; and it would have been 
little short of a crime should a strain have been put on 
him where we both knew he was not strong. 

He gambled, off and on, almost to the day of his 
death. Sometimes months would pass, during which he 
would not play ; and then, again, he would have days of 
gaming. But because he kept very little money with 
him, he held his madness within such bounds that — 
well, he kept himself out of prison, anyhow. 

After his death, an autopsy revealed the fact that 
for years he had suffered from a tumor on his brain ! 
I may be wrong in my surmise, but I am strongly in- 
clined to believe that this physical disturbance of his 
nervous system was the real cause of his gambling 
mania. There are many reasons that lead me to this 



SOME DARKER STUDIES 7 1 

conclusion, but space will not permit me to state them 
here. Similar cases have already been noted by eminent 
authorities who have made a life study of the psychology 
of vice and crime, and new light in this direction is 
shining through every day. 

I recently read a well-authenticated account of a 
bookkeeper who suddenly lost his ability to add figures, 
an art in which he had for years been an expert. A 
little later he became insane, to such a degree that he 
was committed to an asylum. There, a tumor was re- 
moved from his brain, and he returned to his normal 
condition, resuming his former position, where he was 
able to work as well as ever. 

Another case was that of a man who suddenly be- 
came brutally jealous of his wife without any cause on 
her part for his being so. This condition continued till 
he tried to murder her, after which his friends were 
obliged to have him taken to an insane hospital. There, 
being relieved from an abnormal pressure upon a part 
of his brain, caused by some subtle disease, his jealousy 
vanished, and he regained his former condition of do- 
mestic happiness and love. 

Now all this does not mean that corps of surgeons 
could start out with saws, knives, scissors, and scoops, 
and in a few minutes so trim up mankind, within and 
without, that there would be no more sin, misery, vice, 
and crime in the world. But these cases, and scores of 
others that we all know about, lead one to think that, in 
large degree, if not altogether, the ills and crimes of 
humanity are seated in the body, which is my original 
contention. And, if these things are so, or even so to 
a considerable extent, they are things for parents and 
teachers to know about, and to regulate their actions 



72 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

in accordance with, in attempting to educate all the 
children of all the people. 

This friend of whom I have spoken used to talk to me 
about his prison experience. He was a remarkably 
able and intelligent man, keenly observant, and exceed- 
ingly wise in his conclusions on nearly all affairs. And 
he assured me that a very large percentage of the in- 
mates of the prison he was in were incapable of taking 
care of themselves. " They were simply a herd of in- 
competents," is the way he put it. I have never for- 
gotten that phrase. It is a statement to remember and 
never to forget, as one looks at children and thinks of 
the future. 

Can you remember some act or acts of yours, that you 
did without the least thought that they were wrong, when 
you were doing them, but which acts were really bad, 
perhaps very bad ? Maybe you say : " But I was too 
young to know." Count it so. Then remember that 
there are many people who are always young, or who 
never can come through on certain lines. Call it " arrested 
development," or what you will, the fact remains that 
many people do not, yes, cannot, see clearly the ways in 
which they go wrong. It may not be so always, but it 
is so sometimes, is it not ? At least you have found it so 
in your own experience, haven't you ? I have. Read 
Stanley Hall's book on Adolescence for cases on this 
point. 

I am inclined to think that few children have any real- 
ization whatever of the enormity of their deeds when they 
rob birds' nests, or pull the legs off grasshoppers, or the 
wings from butterflies. Did you ever pluck watermelons 
that you had never planted, but which you took by the 
light of the moon with great delight, and which you de- 



SOME DARKER STUDIES 73 

voured without a qualm ? And did you feel so very bad 
about it at the time ? Have you ever been abroad and 
returned with trunks full of things that were dutiable, 
and then — did you feel so very bad about what you did ? 
Did you look the officer in the eye as you walked past 
him with the tucks in your skirt stuffed full of undeclared 
laces — as full as they could be and not show ? And did 
you feel very bad about it, when, relying on the steadiness 
of your gaze, that same official passed you without a 
word ? Did you feel that you had done anything so very 
wrong, after all this ? Who is it that says, " All women 
are born smugglers " ? 

But it is a sin to smuggle, to deliberately break the 
law of one's country. All people who can see clearly 
on this side of their being, who can come through there, 
know that this is so. But there are multitudes of peo- 
ple in this country, both men and women, who do not 
see it, and who, from the evidence in the case, it would 
seem cannot see it that way. All of which means that 
there are many persons in this country who are practi- 
cally children, or insane, on that side of their lives. 
They exhibit well marked cases of arrested develop- 
ment, or insanity, in this part of their make-up. They 
do not deliberately do wrong. Their failure is in being 
unable to realize that what they do is really wrong. 
They will acknowledge that they have broken a law; 
but, to them, it is a law, and not themselves, that is 
wrong. They are " short " in that part of their make- 
up. Their ultimate moral sense cannot " come through " 
at these places. Their moral eyes are blind. They can- 
not see things as they are. 

I believe that, as a rule, all thieves feel that way about 
their robberies. They know that they break laws by 



74 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

doing as they do ; but, to them, the laws are wrong, and 
not they themselves. For reasons which seem to them 
sufficient, they, at the time of their misdeeds, feel that 
they are only doing what they have a right to do, all 
things considered. This, if they think at all. Many 
of the worst cases cannot think clearly at all — can- 
not "come through," or function in these mental 
places. 

A lawyer who had had an experience of twenty-five years 
at the bar to base his statement on once told me that he 
had never been called on to defend a criminal who would 
acknowledge that he was guilty of the crime with which 
he was charged, no matter what that crime might be. 
Such might confess to having done certain deeds, but 
they would never acknowledge that such doing was 
wrong. They always had some reason to offer which 
justified their action, allowing them to be their own 
judge. In the presence of such testimony, can one 
doubt that these people have eyes and see not, that 
there are spots where they cannot " come through " .'' 

Of course they are wrong in all this, when viewed 
from a social standpoint; and, being so, not seeing 
things as they are, they cannot be left free to prey upon 
their fellows; but their attitudes of mind should, of 
right, be taken into account in the way society deals 
with such — in the manner in which it makes "the pen- 
alty fit the crime." 

Nor do I think that all these have tumor on the brain. 
In mbst cases the trouble goes further back than that — 
they are born so. But I do beheve that, in every case, 
the trouble lies, basically, in the imperfect bodies of 
these wrongdoers rather than elsewhere. If the brain 
and nervous organism of each one of these derelicts 



SOME DARKER STUDIES 75 

could be made normal, there is small doubt that their 
actions would tally with right, and not with wrong. 

It is doubtless true that Jesus had such as these in 
mind when he said : " Seeing, they see and do not per- 
ceive; hearing, they hear and do not understand." 
How wonderfully well the Great Teacher knew human- 
ity. Surely, the noblest prayer that was ever prayed 
came from his lips, when he said, " Father, forgive them ; 
they know not what they doT The real foundation 
trouble with us, and with all, always, when we go wrong, 
is that we do not really know what we are doing. 
Therefore, let us be charitable, both to ourselves and to 
our neighbors, all over the world. "For such is the 
kingdom of heaven." 

When my wife had read the manuscript of this chap- 
ter, she said to me, "I think it must be true that when- 
ever the chance of a desire to come through is stronger 
than the power of the will to keep it from doing so, then 
the individual becomes insane!" I think she is right. 

Which leads me to add that, as I write these words, 
there comes to me the report of the suicide of a young 
man who has been my neighbor for years. He was one 
of the noblest men I have ever known. He was happily 
married. His wife is a lovely woman and they have 
two beautiful children. He was in excellent financial 
circumstances, and was loved and honored by all who 
knew him, yet he took his own life. His mother died 
by her own hand, a few years ago. " The taint is in the 
blood," we say. And we say well. The physical organ- 
ism was, I believe, in each of these cases, so faulty, on 
certain lines, that the desire to die came through stronger 
than the will to live. The victims were insane, and so 



76 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

they did as they did. At the coroner's inquest over the 
death of this young man, the fact was disclosed that his 
heart-beat rate had always been less than fifty to the 
minute — was so from birth. Truly, such fact is sig- 
nificant, and in line with my theory. 

Surely, for teachers and parents who have to deal 
with children who go wrong, these cases, and their likes, 
must give us pause. For so many of us and ours, and 
the rest, are wont to go wrong — to have desire come 
through stronger than will comes through, to be in- 
sane, at least in spots. 

I am well aware that I have only skimmed the surface 
of the vital themes touched upon in these latest chapters. 
The literature that discusses them in detail is very volu- 
minous ; but it has, so far, reached only speciaUsts, and 
they, largely, are medical men and not parents and 
teachers. But because the mental and moral issues in- 
volved are so closely linked to the subject I am consid- 
ering, I have deemed it wise to introduce as much of 
this related matter as I have in these pages. No teacher 
is thoroughly equipped for first-class professional work 
who is not fairly well posted in this particular field of 
psychological investigation. Its complete mastery is, 
of course, possible only for the specialist, the subject is 
so far-reaching. Thus, Havelock Ellis, in his " Studies 
in the Psychology of Sex," on which he labored thirty 
years, quotes from more than one thousand authors, 
ancient and modern, who have made a more or less 
thorough study of this theme, and it is safe to say that 
there is scarce an observation in all the mass of testi- 
mony which these experts have brought together 
through the years that is not vitally related to the 
problem we are now considering. My presentation of 



SOME DARKER STUDIES 



77 



the subject is suggestive and not exhaustive, especially 
in these last chapters. If enough has been said, how- 
ever, to set the readers to thinking, to have aroused an 
interest in the theme which will lead to further study of 
the issues involved, I am satisfied. Let the experts tell 
you the details through their books and essays which 
are within the reach of all who care to hunt them out. 

Read any one of the many — Stanley Hall, Boris 
Sidis, William James, Havelock ElHs, or a dozen others to 
start on, — and then follow the trail they begin for you, 
and you will arrive. They all produce testimony that 
is of the highest value for use by any and all who are 
engaged on the problem of trying to educate all the 
children of all the people. 



CHAPTER IX 

WHAT FOLLOWS ? 

A New View of Humanity — Criminals not to be left to Themselves 
— Sources of Help towards Better Conditions — A Realization of 
the Facts in Each Case — Check "Shortages" by making the 
Most of " Longages " — Love the Chief Factor in Bettering Con- 
ditions — Punish but not Kill — McKinley's Assassin — " Criminal 
Classes" a Misnomer — Lombroso's Theories and Conclusions — 
Parents and Teachers should specially recognize these Facts — 
Haste in forming Final Conclusions regarding " Shorts " and 
"Longs" to be guarded Against — The Qualities may change 
with Time — Dr. Sperry's Story — The Case of W. J. Stillman. 

I AM well aware that this view of ourselves and of our 
fellow men, of our being "born long" or **born short," 
here or there, and of our being twisted out of the 
straight line of right by our bodily conditions, which 
may be congenital or which may be imposed upon us by 
accident or disease — I know very well that this way of 
looking at humanity has not always been foremost in 
the minds of men, in days gone by ; and that, for this 
reason, very little provision so far has been made for 
deaHng with humanity on this basis. 

I believe, though, that Jesus saw the truth in the 
premises, and that he treated mankind and womankind 
on the basis of their wrong-goings being seated in the 
body. If you do not see it that way, read the story of 
the Thief on the Cross, and of the woman who " was 
taken in the act," and then see how it seems to you. 

But we cannot let these people who are blind and 

78 



WHAT FOLLOWS? 79 

deaf to the right, who are insane and criminal, go where 
they will and do as they please. Surely not; for so 
would the blind lead the blind, and all would fall into 
the ditch. There are such things as right and wrong, 
and let none ever forget or disregard the fact. 

Truth is eternal, and it never swerves. 

And right and truth must be taken into account in all 
righteous living. For righteous living is what all the 
experiences of life are for. The question is : How can 
these people who are " born short " in one way or an- 
other, or who are idiotic, or insane, or vicious, or crimi- 
nal because of disease, or accident, or physical harm of 
any kind — how can these people who are out of the line 
of righteousness — how can such be brought into line 
and led to tally with right and truth ? That is the chief 
question of all time. To help solve this question Christ 
gave his life, and it is only by the giving of life that you, 
or I, or anybody, can in any way help on its solution. 
That is the first thing to remember. 

But it will help us all, oh so much, if we, first of all, 
realize the situation ; if we have a realizing sense of 
things as they are, and especially if we keep in mind the 
way we are ourselves, and by the same token the way 
our brothers and sisters, and especially our children, are 
also. That is the true beginning point. Without such 
a basis to start on, such a foundation under our feet, 
there can be no progress in the work undertaken. 

And so I believe that the first thing for us all to do is, 
to try to bring ourselves to a clear and full understanding 
of the fact that we are all of us '* born long " on some 
lines and "short" on some other lines, or that we have 
been rendered short by accident or disease; and that 
our possibilities of mental functioning and resultant 



8o ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

doing, in one direction or another, are in very large 
measure determined by our bodily excellences or in- 
firmities ; and, further, that the greatest good will come 
to each and every one of us by permitting us to move 
out strongly on the lines of our natural abilities — our 
" longages " — when these are on the line of right ; and, 
beyond this, where we are weak, or short, or idiotic, or 
insane, or criminal, all that can be done should be done 
to help us to overcome our infirmities and difficulties, and 
to bring us into line with right and truth, all these things 
being taken into the account. 

But, to do this last, let us never be held back where 
we are naturally and righteously long and strong, in an 
effort to make us "symmetrical," that is, equally long 
and strong everywhere else. That is the whole issue. 
There is where we have all gone wrong, time and time 
again, in our treatment of ourselves and of those with 
whom we have had to do, especially the children. There 
is where our public schools have sinned terribly. There 
is where they must stop sinning, if they ever educate all 
the children of all the people. 

What, then, shall we do with these shorts, these idiots, 
these insane, these vicious ones, these criminals ? Well, 
we shall do the best we can with them and for them, 
things being as they are. But, first of all, we shall love 
them, every one, " not with allowance, but with genuine 
love " ; and we shall despise none of them, not even the 
meanest and lowest. That is, we shall almost entirely 
change our mental attitude towards any and all such 
people. 

Things being as they are, we shall have to " punish " 
many of them, especially those who exhibit the most 
pronounced cases of waywardness, for a good while 



WHAT FOLLOWS? 8l 

yet; we shall have to shut a good many of them up, 
and keep them where they cannot harm themselves or 
others. I do not believe we shall always " punish " in 
many of the ways we now use, and we ought never to 
kill any of them. 

(It brought my heart into my throat when I read 
the last words of President McKinley's assassin : " I 
thought what I did would help the poor people." 
Could any sane man ever have thought that ? Is it not 
clear that this man who took the President's Ufe was 
blind on that side of his being; that there he could 
not see things as they really were ; that there he was 
idiotic, or insane ? 

Of course he and his like cannot be permitted to 
go about shooting Presidents, or Kings, or Emperors. 
They must be kept from such exercise of their crazed 
purposes. But I believe the time will come when such 
erratics will not be killed. I believe the hour will 
strike when even such as these will be loved and pitied, 
rather than cursed and hated ; when the way they are 
will be taken into the account, in passing judgment 
upon them. I believe that, in his inmost soul. Presi- 
dent McKinley had no desire that his assassin's life 
should be taken. But, as things were, he could only 
say : " Suffer it to be so now." There are better days 
ahead of us than have ever yet been.) 

Again, it will help us greatly if we can bring our- 
selves to realize that these variations in humanity that 
tend towards unrighteousness, these " shorts " of one 
kind or another, are not confined to any one class of 
people, to any one stratum of society, or to any one 
realm of life. In other words, if we are wise we shall 
come to understand, for one thing, that there is no such 



82 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

thing as a " criminal class " of people, in the ordinary 
sense of that phrase. 

Doubtless Lombroso and his coadjutors are in large 
measure right in the things they have written about 
criminals. But very many of the conclusions that have 
been drawn from their investigations and writings are 
altogether wrong. Many of the physical signs of 
criminality that they have noted are true to the line; 
but the conclusion that these signs manifest themselves 
wholly, or in any considerable majority, in any particu- 
lar class, or branch, of human society — this is entirely 
wrong. Criminality knows no such thing as class, or 
rank, or station in life. Such " shorts " are in evidence 
on every round of the social ladder, in every grade of 
human life. History gives ample proof that kings 
there have been who were not exempt, and that beg- 
gars have lived who were in like case. Some of the 
clergy, of the highest rank, have suffered from the 
same cause, and there have been unbelievers who 
showed signs of lack in the same direction. In many 
of these the physical signs of errancy may have 
showed in much the same way, and in this respect 
Lombroso is right. The faults were in their bodies, and 
Lombroso translated the outward showings correctly. 
But the conclusion that is often drawn, that there is a 
criminal class that springs from, or is chiefly recruited 
from, some particular class of society — this is not true. 

If this fact is kept in mind, it will clear away a lot of 
rubbish that often appears in the form of misunderstand- 
ing, prejudice, and injustice, in the practical work of 
parents and teachers who have to deal with all sorts of 
" shorts " in the family and schoolroom. 

Again, it will help greatly, in a general way, to under- 



WHAT FOLLOWS? 83 

stand that we must not be too hasty in making up our 
minds as to the " longs '* and " shorts " of any given in- 
dividual ^ ourselves included. There are hard and fast 
lines in these premises, boundaries that cannot be 
broken over or passed, in every one of us ; but we 
should never be hasty in thinking that we have dis- 
covered such as these in ourselves, or in our children, or 
in our pupils. Good hard common sense, and a diligent, 
faithful, intelHgent study of these things as they really 
are, in any given individual, will keep us from going 
wrong here. Only this : keep in mind that we are 
always to seek for the natural ways of the individual, 
those that are in the line of righteousness, and to help, 
to the uttermost, in these directions, knowing that such 
movement, free and joyous, will always tend to the best 
interest of all parties concerned. And where there is 
weakness in any given case, we will do the best we can 
to help overcome such condition, but never at the ex- 
pense of retarding what is already strong. If I have 
one bad leg, it can never be made good by my being 
prohibited from using my good leg till the bad one is 
equally sound and usable. That is a fundamental prin- 
ciple, one never to be forgotten. 

But, while there are hard and fast lines and impass- 
able boundaries in the make-up of all of us, yet, in large 
measure, the great bulk of humanity can move out in 
many like directions, most of which are so common to 
mankind that we count them as normal. Thus, most 
children can learn to read, though some can master this ac- 
compHshment much more easily than others. As I have 
already said, I have known cases where the art of read- 
ing came so naturally to the child that he never had to 
be taught at all. I have known other cases where it was 



84 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

exceedingly difficult to get the pupil to read very much, 
or very well, even at the expense of a great amount of 
teaching. In some of these latter cases the pupils 
were normally strong in other directions ; in a few they 
were exceedingly able in one or more other ways. I 
have a record of a few instances where pupils could not 
learn to read at all, and yet they were thoroughly nor- 
mal in several other ways. The range is almost infinite, 
here and otherwhere. But, in each and every case, the 
child should be cared for according to the way he natu- 
rally is, and not according to some fixed plan that some- 
body has laid down as the regular thing for all children 
to attain to. And, above all, as I have said more than 
once, the child should never be hindered where he is 
strong, to make good where he is weak. 

Again, it sometimes happens in a marked degree, and 
in most children it is true to a considerable extent, that 
possibilities, " longs " and " shorts," vary as the child 
grows. A child is an undeveloped quantity, and its 
capabilities are not all " worn on its sleeve " from the 
first. It is for this reason that one should not be too 
much in a hurry in declaring that a given child is " long " 
or "short," here or there. But if we keep our eyes 
open, there is small danger of our going wrong here. 
There are no Mede-and-Persian laws that will universally 
apply to the individual soul. Each case must be studied 
by itself, and action determined according to needs, 
every time and continually. 

And it sometimes happens that very marked changes 
in the possibilities of a given child may suddenly appear, 
for good and sufficient reasons. Dr. Sperry, of Oberlin, 
Ohio, tells of a boy whose case came under his observa- 
tion, which well illustrates this point. 



WHAT FOLLOWS? 85 

This boy had been cared for by a charitable institution 
for some years, but had never been able to learn to read. 
Finally the manager of the institution came to the con- 
clusion that it was unwise to keep him any longer, as 
there were no scholarly possibihties for him, and he was 
filling a place that some more promising child might 
occupy. So he called the boy and told him that he 
would have to leave the institution. It nearly broke the 
poor fellow's heart, and he cried all night about it. In the 
morning he came down to breakfast with his reading 
book in his hand, and, going to his teacher, he said : ** I 
can read ! " And he could. The doctor says that from 
that time on the boy learned to read rapidly, and that he 
afterwards pursued an extended course of study success- 
fully. The case is surely rare, at least few such have 
ever been reported, but it is very significant, and well 
worth noting. 

One of the most remarkable cases of this sudden 
change in the possibilities and impossibilities of a child 
that has ever met my attention is that of the late Dr. W. 
J. Stillman, as he reports it in his autobiography, which 
was published in the Atlantic Monthly for 1900, and 
which, I think, has since appeared in book form. In the 
first chapter of the story of his life he relates that he was 
a wonderfully precocious child. He says : *' My mother 
taught me my letters before I could articulate them, and 
when I was two I could read, and at three I was put on 
a high stool to read the Bible for visitors, so that I can- 
not remember when I could not read." He then goes 
on to tell how he held this pace, so to speak, till he was 
seven years of age, being counted a prodigy by all the 
community in which he lived. He read everything that 
he could lay hands on, and could relate with great 



86 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

fluency all that he read. But he had a severe attack of 
typhoid fever when he was seven, " out of which," he says, 
'' I came a model of stupidity, and so remained till I was 
fourteen, my thinking powers being so completely sus- 
pended, that at the dame's school to which I was sent, I 
was repeatedly flogged for not comprehending the sim- 
plest things." (Think of it !) ** I got through simple 
arithmetic as far as long division, and there I had to 
be turned back to the beginning three times, before I 
could be made to understand the principle of division by 
more than one number." 

The " intellectual slowness," he says, " continued year 
after year." He was kept in school (for his parents 
were anxious that he should become a clergyman), in 
spite of his mental disabilities. He studied hard, but 
made little progress worth mentioning. The story he 
tells of his life for seven years is one of the most pathetic 
I have ever read. At times it is little short of a tragedy, 
as witness the following : " It often happened that when 
a question that had passed the other pupils came to me, 
the teacher used to address me, * Well, stupid, what do 
you say } ' " If that is not tragedy, I don't know what 
is. And yet, I have heard teachers do the like, and so 
have you. 

What follows in his story is so remarkable that I am 
sure I shall be excused for quoting it at length. The 
year that he was fourteen he was placed in a boarding 
school, and of his experience there he writes : " The 
persistent apathy which had oppressed me for so many 
years still refused to lift, and my stupidity in learning 
was such that my brother threatened to send me home 
as a disgrace to the family. I had taken up Latin again, 
algebra and geometry ; and though I was up by candle 



WHAT FOLLOWS? 87 

light in the morning, and rarely put my books away till 
after ten at night, except for meals, it was impossible for 
me to construe half the lesson in Virgil, and geometry 
was learned by rote. I gave up exercise in order to gain 
time for study, and my despairing struggles were misery. 
I was then fourteen, in the seventh year of this dark- 
ness, and it seemed to me hopeless. 

'* What happened I know not, but about the middle 
of the first term the mental fog broke away suddenly, 
and before the term ended I could construe the Latin in 
less time than it took to recite it, and the demonstrations 
of Euclid were as clear to me as a fairy story. My 
memory came back so completely that I could recite 
poems after a single reading, and no member of the 
class passed a more brilliant examination at the close of 
the term than I. At the end of the second term I could 
recite the whole of Legendre's Geometry, plane and 
sphericalj without a question, and the class examination 
was recorded as the most brilliant which the academy 
had witnessed for many years. I have never been able 
to conceive an explanation of this curious phenomenon, 
which I only record as of possible interest to some 
student of psychology." 

Such is this most remarkable record, and it surely is 
of interest to every teacher and parent, even if they 
have never heard the word " psychology." And it is of 
still more significance to all who are engaged in trying 
to educate all the children of all the people. 



CHAPTER X 

AGAIN THE BODY 

Theory regarding Dr. Stillman's Case — Questions suggested by 
such Phenomena — Records of Boy with Crushed Skull — Pupil 
BHnd in one Eye — Other Similar Cases — Persistence of Pro- 
nounced Congenital Shortage — Colonel Parker's Protest — Pos- 
sibilities regarding Idiocy — Whitman on such Manifestations — 
Erroneous Impressions regarding the extremely '''Short" — 
Schools for Imbeciles to Blame for this — How such " Shorts " 
should be Considered and Treated — No Great Advancement 
probable along Lines of Extreme "Shortage" — Value of Prog- 
ress on " Long " Capabilities in such Cases. 

Have you any theory as to the cause that underlay 
this most remarkable case of Dr. Stillman ? There 
must have been a cause, and the case must be accounted 
for, by any theory that is at all worthy of consideration. 
Nor does it seem to me that such cause is far to seek. 
To me it appears more than probable that the variation 
in the possibilities of this individual, as they appeared, 
so widely different, from time to time, were all the re- 
sult of changed bodily conditions — that they were all 
seated in the body and not in the mind. 

For, see! First, we have a child who is able to ex- 
press himself, to come through, to a remarkable degree, 
— far beyond the average. At seven he is sick unto 
death with a disease that is noted for the changes it 
makes in the bodily condition of those who recover 
from its mahgnant attacks. Here, surely, is a change 
of the body, rather than of the mind. Out of this ex- 

88 



AGAIN THE BODY 89 

perience he came wholly unable to express himself (to 
come through) as he had formerly done. This condi- 
tion continued till he was fourteen years old, or, in other 
words, till he came to puberty ! Then his former pos- 
sibilities again appeared with wonderful suddenness, and 
they remained with him the rest of his long and useful 
hfe. 

(Perhaps I ought to say, right here, to save the read- 
er's ** looking up," that Dr. Stillman became famous in 
more than one continent, and that, as a scholar, diplo- 
mat, and statesman, he ranked among the first. He 
represented the United States at Rome for many years ; 
he was the friend and comrade of Ruskin, and was 
closely associated with Browning and Emerson, as well 
as with others of the leading minds of his day.) 

But from seven to fourteen this individual was so 
nearly imbecile that his teachers used to address him 
as " stupid," and it took him three terms of school to 
master long division. These are things for all of us to 
remember, and there is no question as to the facts in 
the case. And, as said before, let it never be forgotten 
that a fact, once established, is something that must be 
accounted for, and that can never be gotten over. 

It seems strange that Dr. Stillman should not have 
observed that his recovery of his lost abilities came at 
the time of his entering into manhood ; and that he 
should not have at least suspected that there was a close 
relation between these two facts, that one was the cause 
of the other. But, be that as it may, it is quite evident 
that this is the true explanation of what happened. At 
puberty wonderful changes take place in the human 
body, as Stanley Hall has so ably shown in his studies 
of Adolesdence, and these open up the way for new 



90 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

possibilities of expression for the human mind, of new 
abilities to function in the mental plane. This is true, 
in large degree, in the case of nearly every individual. 
The results are rarely as remarkable as in this case, but 
the causes are the same in the whole human family. 

My theory is that, in the case of Dr. Stillman, the 
severe sickness that he had when he was seven left him 
with some clog upon certain portions of his brain or 
nervous organism, the parts that had to do with his 
power to express himself before he was sick, but which 
he was unable to use when he got well again. Here 
he was stopped off, so to speak, for seven long years. 
Here he could not come through as he had once done. 
Perhaps there was a stoppage in the proper supply of 
blood for these parts of the brain, while other parts 
were not so affected. I do not know. I do not know 
that any one knows just exactly what happened ; but I 
think it is clear that the trouble was all in the body of 
the boy, and not in his mind. 

My reason for thinking so is that suddenly he was 
restored to a former condition, was able to express him- 
self as aforetime, and that just when great bodily 
changes came to him. I have an idea that these bodily 
changes, which came at puberty, broke down the clogs 
that had interrupted the coming through of this lad on 
so many lines for so many years ; and that, these bar- 
riers being removed, he could again express himself as 
he had formerly done — could function in certain men- 
tal planes as aforetime. 

I ought to add that young Stillman was not " stopped 
off " in all his abilities to function in mental planes dur- 
ing these seven lean years. His knowledge of nature, 
plants, flowers, and animals, and his love for studying 



AGAIN THE BODY 91 

them -— were as great as ever, and constantly grew to 
more and more. But all these points on which he could 
still function were relegated to disuse by his parents and 
teachers in order that he might gain book knowledge, 
where he had become " short." 

Nor do I believe that " keeping him everlastingly at " 
these studies was the cause of his mastering them. 
The denouement was too sudden to make this theory 
account for such result. In such case, his progress 
would have been gradual. He did make some gradual 
progress in his studies during the years of his affliction. 
But the relief came in an instant^ and witJiont effort on 
his part. Such is not the way of plodding. It was not 
steady progress as a result of persistent effort that 
caused him to arrive, but a sudden illumination that 
came unlooked for and unsought. 

Think on this for a minute, teacher or parent or 
other reader. 

But was there anything the matter with this boy's 
mind, with his inmost self, during these seven strange 
years } Surely not. He was all right, all the time. 
The instrument he had to play on was out of repair in 
some places for a time, and so he could then make no 
music on these keys — some hammer was unglued or 
peg broken, for the time being. When these bad 
places were made good, then he could play again as he 
had once done. 

And do not the facts that he had played once, and 
then could not play for a while, and then could play 
again after great bodily changes had come to him, — do 
not these things all prove that the trouble was entirely 
in the instrument and not at all in the player — that it 
was the body and not the mind of this individual that 



92 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

was at fault ? It seems to me that there can be small 
question as to the truth of such surmise ; indeed, that 
the facts cannot be accounted for in any other way. 

And if these things are so (and I firmly believe they 
are), what rows on rows of interrogation marks they set 
upon end, to question many of our acts as parents and 
teachers ? And how are these question marks followed 
by rows on rows of marks of command, declaring that 
we must mend our ways in these regards ! If the 
bodily conditions of our children and pupils are as 
fundamental and important as all these things indicate, 
what are we going to do about it ? 

And again I say, we must do the best we can. 
But first of all we must have regard to the facts in the 
case, and act accordingly, to the best of our ability, 
things being as they are. 

(Just here I received a report of a most suggestive 
case in point from a teacher of " short " children in the 
public schools of New York City. She has among her 
pupils a boy of twelve who is now very limited in 
his possibilities. And yet this same boy had a most 
excellent school record up to the time he was ten years 
of age. But at that time of his life he had his skull 
fractured by falling from a fire escape in trying to get 
out of a burning apartment building. The injury was 
so severe that his life hung by a thread for weeks, but 
he finally lived. But he lives as only a part of his 
former mental self. He is now able to do almost 
nothing at all with books, and is almost entirely imbecile 
regarding subjects on which he was once able to express 
himself well. Can any one say that this boy's mind 
was dashed out on a curbstone t It was not his mind, 
but his body, that was broken. And the possibility of 



AGAIN THE BODY 



93 



his mind using his body was thereby limited. The hurt 
is probably of a sort that the changes that come at 
puberty will never rectify — that nothing can modify; 
but the case furnishes one more proof that "these 
things are in the body." So I note it here.) 

And so we must learn to esteem the bodies of our 
children and pupils as of far more importance than they 
were once considered to be, and give attention to them 
accordingly. As fast as we can attain to it, we must 
have these bodies examined by those who are competent 
to pass judgment upon them; and, as far as possible, 
thus learn what their condition is, in each and every 
case. Especially should this be done with children who 
show signs of variation from normal lines. I am no 
expert, but I once found, in a school I visited, a boy 
twelve years old who was blind in one eye ; and yet 
neither his teachers nor his parents had ever discovered 
the fact t He was two grades below where he should 
have been, in the natural order of things, and his bad 
eye was the cause of it. Both his parents and his 
teachers considered him stupid, and there we are again^ 
And this case of carelessness and neglect is not nearly 
as rare as it may seem to be. 

But I need not take time to speak in detail of near- 
sightedness, partial deafness, semi-paralysis of one organ 
or another, and many other bodily defects which hamper 
pupils in their progress in school. Thank Heaven, some 
teachers are beginning to recognize them as factors in 
the work attempted in the schoolroom, |nd now and 
then they modify what they attempt to do for one pupil 
or another, accordingly. But far too largely, as yet, 
these things are as idle tales to many teachers, both 
of high and low degree. Yet the light is coming 



94 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



through, all along the line. I shall say more about 
this later. 

And now a word or two as to what can probably be 
done with these poor, or bad-bodied pupils — the *' shorts," 
in one way or another. 

In the first place, I am convinced that, where the 
shortage is decidedly pronounced, there is not nearly 
the percentage of possibility for advancement, on the 
lines of the shortage, that has generally been supposed. 
This may seem a hard saying, but the truth must be 
told, and I believe this to be true. Colonel Parker once 
said to me, " Oh, Mr. Smith, your doctrine is so hope- 
less ! " To which I replied, " That all depends." But 
I will return to this later, also. 

Where the shortage in the child is so pronounced that 
it amounts to idiocy, let it be said, once for all, that 
there is small chance for such a child ever advancing 
very far along its idiotic lines. It may progress, some- 
times far beyond a normal child, in some other direc- 
tions, but rarely along the lines of its shortage. Where 
the idiocy includes a large number of the faculties of 
the child, there is little use of even hoping that such a 
child can be brought to the standard of normality. I 
need not say that such cases are uncommon, but they 
exist ; and where they do exist, they prove the truth of 
what I have said. There are human bodies that are in 
such bad shape, that were so from the beginning (they 
were born so), or that have been made so by accident 
(as in the case of the boy who fell from the ladder and 
broke his skull), or by disease of some sort, that the 
imprisoned minds that live in them can come through 
but very Httle — sometimes not at all. Yet these bodies 
live, sometimes for years. 



AGAIN THE BODY 95 

But I do not call even these cases hopeless. These 
are the ones Walt Whitman has in mind, when he says : 

'^ I saw the face of the most smeared and slobbering idiot in the 

asylum, 
And I knew for my consolation what they did not know. 
I know the agents that emptied and broke my brother, 
And I know that the same Power waits, calm and patient, to clear 

away the rubbish ; 
And one of these days I shall meet the real landlord. 
Perfect and unharmed, and every whit as good as myself. 
The Lord advances, and ever advances. 
Always the shadow in front. 
But ever the reached hand of the Almighty, moving up the 

laggards." 

And that is not hopeless ! 

I believe there is a very wrong impression extant 
about what can be done for idiotic children in institu- 
tions which are provided for their care. Time and 
again I have heard stories about the wonderful things 
that have been done for children in these schools. But 
when I have brought these stories to the test, I have 
found that, whatever may have been the intentions of 
those who told them, they have conveyed a very wrong 
impression to the community at large. And here is the 
reason : — 

These stories about the wonderful advancement of 
pupils in schools for idiots (they should never be called 
institutions for the feeble-minded; such children are 
not feeble-minded, but only bad-bodied, and so idiotic 
or peculiar), are most of them true, in a way. But the 
progress made by those children that are told about is 
never, or at least rarely, if ever, along the lines of their 
natural idiocy. 

Such children are "born short" to the extent of 



96 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

idiocy, on some lines, while they are born normal, or 
often " long," sometimes to an extent little short of 
genius, on other lines. Their idiocies are so numerous 
and pronounced that they constitute the leading features 
of the children's make-up, and so they are sent to an 
institution. Here, their ''long" sides are brought to 
the front, and they are sometimes permitted to move 
out on the lines on which they can come through. This 
work on their long sides is reported, and the conclusion 
reached by the outside world is, that such children have 
been brought to the standard of normality, all along the 
line. But this is so rarely the case that it is not worth 
taking into account. 

Once in a while, as in the case of Dr. Stillman, a 
child that is idiotic on some lines, for the time being, 
because of something that happened to him after he 
was born, may come to normality on those lines; but 
where the child is born idiotic, there is very little prob- 
abiUty that he will ever become normal to any great 
degree in the places where he is ''born short." Those 
who have had experience with such children will unani- 
mously sustain these statements. 

This principle holds true in all cases where a child 
is really "born short," be the shortages many or few. 
Where the shortage is genuine and congenital, it is 
rarely ever overcome. Charles Sumner never attained 
to any mathematical ability worth mentioning; and 
General Grant was helpless, as a financier, to the day 
of his death. To be sure, he wrote his memoirs when 
he was dying by inches. But others had to " finance " 
them for him. The principle stands in his case and in 
all others. It seems hard, when looked at from some 
standpoints ; but that is neither here nor there, so far 



AGAIN THE BODY 97 

as the facts are concerned. The question here, as 
always, is what is the truth in the premises ? I firmly 
believe it will always be found just as I have stated it. 

And I am also sure that it is not nearly as bad as it 
seems, if it is only thoroughly understood, and the edu- 
cation of each child is provided for accordingly — that 
is, in harmony with the way he is, that he is brought to 
his best with what he has to do with, if his " one talent " 
is made the most of. 

And so, for you, teachers or parents who have idiotic 
children in your schools or in your families, be not cast 
down overmuch, and do not torment either yourselves 
or the children in trying to bring them to normality all 
along the line. Rather be content to take them as they 
are, and do the most you can for them along the lines of 
their possibilities. Jesus said : " Neither this man nor 
his parents sinned, but that the glory of God might be 
made manifest " ; and if you will help such children to 
move out on the line of their native abilities, to the limit 
of their powers, you will glorify God as greatly as the 
greatest ! See it that way, which is the right way, I 
believe, and be comforted, ye who are weighed down 
with this sort of burden. And there are many such. 

And if you send a child of yours to an " institution," 
don't expect too much to come of it. Many people go 
broken-hearted on this score. They have heard such 
wondrous tales about what has been done for children 
who they supposed were like theirs that their hopes 
mount high as they imagine what may be done for their 
own afflicted one. And then the months go by, and 
the change they hope for comes not; whereupon they 
sink down in despair! The cause of this unfortunate 
outcome is a failure to realize the truth of what I have 



98 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

told in these last pages. True your hopes to the line 
of the possible in such cases, to what can be done for 
such children, they being as they are, and you will not 
then be disappointed; always remembering that there 
is small hope of making any child normally *'long" 
where he is abnormally " short." Let the educational 
work for such children be done along the lines of their 
longages, and then helpful and satisfactory results, 
viewed from that standpoint, can be obtained. 

It is further true that the more these children are suc- 
cessfully moved up along the lines of their possibilities, 
the more probability there is that they may move up, in 
some measure, along the lines of their so-far-indicated im- 
possibilities. They gather strength, to a degree, all along 
the line, by the exercise of what faculties they can suc- 
cessfully use. This is a point never to be forgotten in 
the education of such children. But growth must come, 
if it comes at all, by starting the child along the hnes in 
which he has at least some natural ability to move. If 
a start can be made there, there is hope for some prog- 
ress elsewhere. Some of these children are the most 
lovable in the world, and they are all "provided for." 
Our duty is to do the best we can for them, they being 
what they are. They form a part of all the children of 
all the people, and as such they should be educated to 
the limit of their several possibilities. 



CHAPTER XI 

STRICTLY BETWEEN OURSELVES 

Reasons for writing this Chapter — Doubts caused by the Phenom- 
ena of Extreme "Shortage" — Despair Resulting — A Founda- 
tion of Assurance Needful — "The Maker of All Things" 

Everything is Looked After — Fatalism Denied — Workers with 
God— Life and Death the Constant Factors of all Change — 
Death has as much Purport as Life— Universality of Protecting 
Power — Definition of Hell — "All a Procession " — Monarchy 
and Democracy Contrasted — The Basic Law of Evolution — 
The Mission of the Seemingly Bad — Difficulty of making 
Uniform Regulations for All Mankind — Personal Conclusions — 
A Link binding the Parts of the Book together. 

In justice to all parties concerned, and especially to 
you who have so patiently lent me your eyes and 
given me your attention through the preceding pages, it 
seems to me that, before we go farther, it is only fair, 
in view of some of the things I have said in the last few 
chapters, I should open my heart to you a good way 
deeper down than I have yet done, and let you see the 
foundation I stand on, holding the theories and beliefs 
which I do regarding the various and sundry '' shorts " 
in humanity that I have tried to set forth in what I 
have written thus far. For, the truth is that no one can 
honestly look these shortage facts in the face without 
having great questions rise in his mind as to the why of 
it all; and, beyond that, the outcome of it all. It is 
such considerations that sometimes force us to the verge 
of despair, that hurl us into a sea of doubt where we 
shall perish miserably if we have not a rock of im- 
movable faith to cling to. 

99 



lOO ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

Of course I hesitate to say what I am going to say, 
for reasons that you can well understand. You have 
only to think how it would be if the case were your 
own, and then you will know all about it. 

And in saying what I do I make no claim that I 
have found the absolutely immovable and fundamentally 
basic rock on which all can at once rest and be at peace. 
I may not have found such a place for any one else, not 
even for you. But of this you may be assured, I have 
found it for myself, and there is a chance that I may 
have found it for some one else — perhaps for you. 
Anyhow, I feel that the rock under my feet is broad 
enough, and solid enough, to sustain your weight as 
well as mine, and with us the weight of all humanity, 
for all time and eternity, if once the brethren and sisters 
can settle down on such a basis. 

I cannot go into details as I should like to, but all at 
once and without apology I state that the rock I am 
based on is found in the words, " God made the heavens 
and the earth." 

That sentence tells what I stand on ; and, up to 
date, nothing has been able to move me therefrom. I 
accept that as the rock-bottom, St. Peter Sandstone 
foundation that sustains me now, and that I believe 
will sustain me continually. 

For if God made the heavens and the earth, I reckon 
he has made all that has ever been made. (In another 
place the Book says, *' And without him was not any- 
thing made that was made," and that is a good way to 
tell it.) And if God made all these, that takes in you, 
and me, and all the rest of everything everywhere. 
And that is enough ! 

And all the evidence I can get at goes to show that 



STRICTLY BETWEEN OURSELVES lOI 

the Power that has made all these things (which is only 
another name for what I and many others call God), 
takes care of them, and will forever keep doing so. 
And that brings you, and me, and all the rest of every- 
thing under shelter. And, being under shelter, you, 
and I, and all the rest of everything are safe. And if 
we are all safe, that is enough ! 

And so I rest secure; and so can you, and so can 
all, and everybody. 

I grant that I see a good many things about me 
which, now and then, it seems to me, might be better 
looked after. But the older I grow the fewer such 
things I see, and the better I know that even these 
things are cared for, in a way that I once knew not of. 
I have had experiences in my own life, a good many of 
them, that, at the time, I thought were not looked after 
by the Power behind them as I thought they should 
have been. But the years have proved that even these 
were " provided for." It has been the same way with 
you, has it not ? 

And so, as I look out upon the great multitudes of 
my brothers and sisters, of all classes and conditions of 
men, women, and children, all the world over, and see 
the way they are, I cannot be troubled. For I believe 
that God made them all, and that what he has made he 
will care for, to the utmost limit. I find corroborative 
evidence of this, every way I look. The stars are cared 
for, and the stuff that the stars and all things else are 
made of is cared for, and all in between and about them 
all is cared for. And you, and I, and all the rest, are 
somewhere in between or about all these things. 

And when I see some things that seem to me not 
cared for, I have come to understand that my reasons 



I02 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

for thinking so are because I do not see far enough, or 
deep enough, or wide enough. Then I become patient 
and " willing to wait." 

And this does not mean fatalism. Anything but 
that. For, in my inmost soul, I feel that if I have been 
made, I also am a maker. The Book has it that *' we 
are all workers together with God," and my experience 
teaches me that the Book is right about it. And this 
completes the circle — covers the whole ground. The 
Power that made all things works, and we work, and so 
things get on. 

And the object of all work — God's, yours, mine, 
everybody's — is to make new and higher combinations 
out of things that are now combined in some other way 
than as we would henceforth have them. 

When I found that out, it made a great change in the 
way I looked at things, past, present, and to come ! It 
took the edge off my blame of people and things as 
they are, and led me to see that there was a reason why, 
in every case. 

It made me understand that a great many conditions 
should be changed, and gave me zeal to try to help 
change them, as the Great Worker is helping to change 
things, all the time. But, meantime, it filled me with 
charity instead of hatred, and it taught me to wait 
patiently for outcomes. 

This discovery also compelled me to see that all 
change must be from something that now is into some- 
thing which is yet to be ; and that it is life and death 
which make such change possible — which bring such 
change about ! Neither of these can do the work alone. 
It always takes them both, death and life, whenever a 
change in anything is made. And neither of these 



STRICTLY BETWEEN OURSELVES 103 

comes first in the order of their doing. They work in 
absolute unity. The only difference between them is 
that one is positive and the other negative. Life pushes, 
and death gives way ; but the push and the yielding are 
a part of one and the same single performance — of the 
change from what is into what is to be. 

When I found that out, then I saw that " death has 
just as much purport as life has," and so I ceased to be 
any more afraid of death than of life. I also learned 
that it is not wise to pass blame upon present conditions, 
no matter what they may be, or to waste time mourning 
over them ; but that it is my business, as a positive factor 
in the problem, always to be "up and doing," always 
busy making changes — bringing death to the unworthy 
and Ufe to that which is better. 

And then I saw what is true for me must be true for 
everybody else, absolutely. 

For, who am I, or who are you, that we and ours 
should be well looked after and the rest be left uncared 
for ? I used to think that happiness would come if I 
and mine were specially cared for. But I was mis- 
taken ! I think you will come to the same conclusion if 
you will think these things over for a while. Some one 
has said that hell is the pursuit of happiness for its own 
sake, and for one's own selfish interest. And if only we 
and ours are cared for, that is selfishness supreme — 
that is hell at its utmost. 

No, it must be all or nothing ! Some is not enough ! 
And it cannot be nothing ! Because, we know that we 
are cared for. And because we know that we are each 
only one in the great procession, therefore the whole 
procession is cared for. 

And will you think for a minute what that means ? 



I04 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

Will you try to think of something that is not cared for ? 
The great is cared for, and the small is cared for, and 
all in between is cared for. I have said that in another 
way, a few lines back, but it is so important that it will 
bear saying many ways, and many times. All is cared 
for, all is " provided for." 

And so I look upon these "shorts," here and there — 
the shortages in myself and in all the rest I have ever 
seen, anywhere, and I reahze that we are all only be- 
coming. We are changing from what we now are to 
something other than we now are. That "all is in a 
procession," and that all is going forward. Some are 
far up the line, some lag away in the rear, and there 
are crowds all in between. But all came from the same 
Source, and all move in the same direction — forward ! 

And the Maker of the procession helps us to move 
forward, and we help ourselves to move forward, and it 
is also our business to help those who are about us to 
move forward, and so we all get on. 

Here and there I see what sometimes seems to me a 
turning back, but I find that, if I can only keep such 
appearances under my eye long enough, I shall find 
that this also ultimately makes for progress. You can 
think of a thousand such experiences in your own line 
of growth, and in the line of growth of others that you 
know about. 

And then it came to me that it doesn't make so very 
much difference just where we are in the procession, at 
a given time; for we shall all arrive far up the line, in 
due season, and then still keep on, going up. The only 
essential thing is that we keep going. And we shall 
do that. The pace may vary, but we shall all always 
advance ! 



STRICTLY BETWEEN OURSELVES 105 

And then I thought that whoever is in advance has 
no cause to despise those who are behind, or to look 
down upon them, or to boast over his own position in 
the line. He may be glad that he has attained, but the 
sole result of his joy will be to increase his effort to help 
another to come to where he is. It will cause him to 
count himself the servant of all in his rear, and not their 
boss. It will make him their brother and not their king. 
He will become genuinely democratic, and will be im- 
bued with the true spirit of mutualness. 

For the compelling force of monarchy is always self- 
ishness, while the animating spirit of genuine democ- 
racy is always self-sacrifice. The Power that has made 
all things, and which sustains all things, and which cares 
for all things, and which provides for all things — this 
Power is an Internal Animating Spirit and not an Ex- 
ternal Compelling Force. It has mutualness and not 
monarchy for its essential principle. 

And then I learned to know that the fundamental law 
for each individual is that he must "be permitted to go 
his own way, so long as such going does not interfere 
with any one else ; and this is only another version of 
the Golden Rule, as a moment's reflection will show. 

All of which means that I have a right to go my own 
way, and you have an equal right to go your own way, 
so long as we harm no one else by the way we go ; and 
that I have no right to compel you to go my particular 
way, neither have you a right to compel me to go your 
particular way ; neither does it become either of us to 
imperiously declare that our way is the only way, and 
that he is anathema who says otherwise. 

I need not say that this is really the basic law of evo- 
lution, which proceeds always from the simple to the 



Io6 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

complex, from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous 
and the infinitely diversified. 

And so I see a place in the procession for all the 
" longs" and a place for all the " shorts," and I know 
that the present conditions of both are but temporary ; 
that the " longs " have an endless road over which they 
can go, and that the " shorts " have an endless road over 
which they can come ; and that neither need say to the 
other, " What doest thou ? " but that, in the true spirit 
of mutualness we will all tramp on together, and keep 
doing so. 

Then I also saw that each in his own place is suffi- 
cient, and that there is small need of making compari- 
sons, one to the detriment of another ; but that the main 
item in the count of each is to fill his own place full to 
the utmost, his ability being what it is. 

I also saw that each has a place and a way of his own, 
and that all the experiences of life that come to any in- 
dividual are for his best good ; and that, sometime, each 
will come to see it that way. That what at first seems 
good may prove good altogether, and that what at first 
seems to be bad, this also will prove to be for good, in 
the long run. So I quit quarreling with the seemingly 
bad, and instead, set myself to work to find out 

" What He would have this evil do for me ? 
What is its mission ? what its ministry ? 
What golden fruit lies hidden in this husk ? 
How shall it nurse my virtue, nerve my will, 
Chasten my passions, purify my love, 
And make me in some goodly sense like Him 
Who bore the cross of evil while He lived 
And hung and bled upon it when He died ? " 

And things looked differently to me after this revela- 
tion came. 



STRICTLY BETWEEN OURSELVES 



107 



Then it was revealed to me why it is so hard to make 
rules and regulations (laws, and courses of study) that 
shall work equally well in all parts of the procession. 
The line is so long, and there are so many kinds in it ! 
And so the Power behind all has, as a matter of fact, 
made rules and regulations for each individual in es- 
pecial, to the effect that each man, woman, or child shall 
go his or her own gait, so long as such going does not in- 
terfere with the going of any one else ! That is basic, and 
the true progress of each individual can come only from 
its observance. The spirit of genuine democracy, of true 
mutualness, always has regard for such law. The right 
arm of monarchy cares for it not a pin's fee ! 

The spirit that animates modern progress is grounded 
in democracy, in mutualness. The exploiting of this idea 
has been too much along monarchical lines in nearly all 
the ways of life. A change is bound to take place in what 
has been attained. Death will get in its work, and life 
will get in its work. The unfit and mistaken will pass 
away, and the fit and right will take their places. 

It was not till I got this view of things that I found 
anything like rest and peace. But now I can rest and 
be at peace. Not that I will sit down and do nothing, 
saying that it will all come out right, anyhow. Not 
that at all. But, knowing that I have a place in the 
procession, and that it is my business to keep moving ; 
and seeing, too, that if I lag, I shall pay for my in- 
difference, and get prodded on ; and having come to 
understand that what is true of myself is true to any- 
body else, in that we are all in the procession, and so 
are all honorable and to be wondered at — having 
learned this, I march with my brothers and sisters, 
proud of them all, watching with equal joy the strong 



lo8 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

walking of those who are before me and the feeble and 
limping steps of those who may be far behind, as we all 
travel onward, forever and forever. 

Be comforted, then, my brother, my sister, whoever 
you are. Cease fretting about yourself in the procession, 
or the place occupied by those who are near and dear 
to you. If you are " long " in certain ways, be thankful 
and not proud. If you or yours are "short" (and no 
matter how " short ") in certain ways, be not ashamed or 
cast down, but make the best you can out of what you 
have ; realizing that " that which fills its own period or 
place is the equal of any," and that it is a thousand 
times better to do a simple thing well than it is to try to 
do something that is too much for you, and fail in the 
undertaking. Keep moving, keep working with God, 
and so you will keep on arriving continually. 

The fact is that the only real joy of life comes from 
working with God, and in helping to keep things moving. 
Some one has said that heaven is a constant endeavor on 
one's part to help to the attainment of its possible best 
every life form that one comes in contact with. I believe 
this is absolutely true. And I believe that, in your inmost 
soul, dear reader, my experience in this regard is yours. 

All of which is strictly betv;een ourselves. I have 
said it hesitatingly, and because I could not help saying 
it. My hope is that it may serve as a sort of confiden- 
tial link between us, as we pass from what I have so far 
said into the more positive part of what I had in mind 
to say when I began writing this book. If this heart to 
heart talk between us can put us en rapport for what all 
I have so far said leads up to, then it will have filled its 
mission, and we shall be in good shape to enter upon 
the consideration of the following chapters. 



CHAPTER XII 

SOME WHYS AND WHEREFORES 

A Foundation Constructed — Brief Review of Points Made — The 
Purpose of Education — Relation of the Phenomena of " Short" 
and " Long " to Public School Issues — Newness of the Attempt 
to educate Everybody — Author's Recollection of its Early His- 
tory — Great Results not to be too soon looked for — Review of 
History of Public Schools essential to Full Comprehension of 
their Present and Future Needs and Possibilities — Outline of 
Further Investigations and Studies Proposed — Some Suggestions 
to follow. 

Now, as a matter of fact, all I have said, so far, is 
merely preliminary, a sort of preface to what I have yet 
to say. I admit that this preface is long, for in volume 
it makes nearly one third of the book I am submitting 
to the reader ; but I could not make it shorter in view of 
the importance which the base it forms bears to what 
I propose to build upon it. 

There is many a lighthouse whose foundation is the 
chief part of the structure that shows where danger lies 
and points the way of deliverance therefrom. 

I believe that I have demonstrated that there are such 
phenomena as are defined by the words "born short" 
and "born long," in all materialized humanity, and that 
such primal Characteristics have a marked tendency to 
persist in each individual Hfe that they are manifest in ; 
and, further, that such conditions are positive factors 
that ought to be taken into account in any righteous 
effort to bring each individual to his or her possible best. 

X09 



no ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

And now, since it is the avowed aim and purpose of 
all education to bring humanity, individually and col- 
lectively, to its possible best ; and since, in carrying out 
such purpose it is essential that all the factors that 
have to do with the problem should be taken into ac- 
count, it is strictly logical and practical to consider the 
relation that exists between the phenomena I have put 
in the foreground and an attempt to educate all the 
children of all the people. 

These statements square us around and set our faces 
forward along the road that we shall travel for the rest 
of the journey. 

Anent which, I beg first to call the attention of the 
reader to the newness or comparative recency of any 
attempt to educate all the children of all the people. I 
am only a trifle past my threescore years, and yet my 
memory reaches back to the time when there was no 
such possibility generally thought of in this country, 
much less attempted. I can well remember hearing 
the feasibility of such an undertaking discussed at a 
** teachers' meeting," in western Massachusetts, when I 
was a boy of ten. Horace Mann was the speaker of the 
occasion, and though I was but a child when I heard him, 
he spoke so forcibly that he not only kept me awake all 
through his talk, but I remember much of what he said, 
and I shall use a part of it before I am done with this 
writing. 

About a half century, then, is the measure of all the 
time we have really been working at the problem of 
universalizing education, and that is practically but a few 
minutes in the stretch of years which it takes to fully 
universalize anything. So we must be as patient here 
as we are when dealing with any other evolutionary 



SOME WHYS AND WHEREFORES III 

process. These all work slowly and take their own time 
for effecting results. 

Before any attempt is made to suggest what ought to 
be done in any given situation, it is not only fair, but 
absolutely essential to justice, that there should be a 
thorough and comprehensive knowledge of what the 
situation really is, and of how it came to be so. And 
so, before proceeding with any suggestions that this 
treatise may have to make regarding our efforts to 
educate all the children of all the people, it is necessary 
that we review, quite thoroughly, the history of our 
attempts in that direction to date; how such attempts 
came to be made ; what the conditions, intellectual, 
social, and economic, were at the time the undertaking 
began ; what ideas prevailed at the outset of the attempt 
regarding what constituted an education; what means 
and methods were reckoned as competent to produce 
the ends aimed at ; how these means and methods were 
applied, and why just these means and methods were 
used just as they were, — with some survey of the results 
all these things have produced. 

And so I shall honestly try to find out somewhere 
near where we are in our thus-far attempts to educate 
all the children of all the people, and how we have 
come to be in our present status, before I make any 
suggestions as to what the future may have in store for 
us by way of marvel or surprise on these counts. 

And having done so much, I hope to be able to point 
out some of the things it would seem wise to do, all 
these conditions being as they are. All of which will 
make up the sum and substance of what the following 
pages will contain. 



CHAPTER XIII 

BITS OF HISTORY 

The Spirit of Democracy the Origin of the Attempt to universalize 
Education — Pioneers in the Cause — Caution to be used in criti- 
cizing These — Horace Mann — His Purposes and Theories — 
Their Effect upon the System of Schools he Inaugurated — 
"Academies" and High Schools — How Public High Schools 
became " College Feeders." 

Beyond all question the attempt to educate all the 
children of all the people was grounded in a genuine 
spirit of democracy. Or, perhaps mutualness would be 
a better word to express just what the animating idea 
was that took form in the effort to universalize educa- 
tion, — though I do not find that word in the dictionary. 
In any event, the movement was only one of many 
manifestations of an attempt to make general things 
which, so far in the history of the world, had been 
special ; to have all share in what, up to that time, only 
a few had been permitted to have. It was an honest 
effort to convey to the masses what had heretofore been 
the prerogative of classes only. 

The men who fathered this idea and who were the 
immediate factors in its objective embodiment were 
among the most noble souls the world has ever produced. 

Their ideals were God-born, and their efforts to realize 
them are among the highest that human endeavor has 
ever put forth. Let these facts never be forgotten, for 
they are worthy of immortal acknowledgment. 

On the other hand, experience in all lines of life 

112 



BITS OF HISTORY II3 

proves that the pioneers in any given enterprise seldom, 
if ever, succeed in putting into operation the best pos- 
sible methods of reaching their ideals. So many in- 
stances which go to prove the truth of this statement will 
readily occur to the reader that none need be quoted here. 

Again, it is not finding fault with pioneers, much less 
condemning them, if those who come after them ques- 
tion the wisdom of some of the primary methods used 
in their first experimentations. We live in a world of 
progress and not of finalities; and this is specially 
true with regard to all means and methods that are 
used by mankind to obtain results. These principles 
are as true in matters educational as they are elsewhere. 

I make these remarks just here because, as a matter 
of fact, conservatism is a little more pronounced in the 
educational world than in any other sphere of life that 
I know about, unless it be in the realm of theology. 
" 'Tis true, 'tis pity ; pity 'tis 'tis true." And there are 
not wanting many good men and true women who feel 
that if any move is made to change anything that ever 
has been, educationally, such effort is a slur upon the 
past, and an attempt at defamation of the characters of 
the originators of the things whose change is afterwards 
sought. All of which is wrong. 

I reverence the fathers of the attempt to educate all 
the children of all the people as much as any one can. 
So far as the real, essential results they desired to ac- 
compHsh are concerned, there is nothing left to be 
wished for. Their purpose was to bring every indi- 
vidual to his or her possible best. If there was a fault 
anywhere, it lay in their conception of what was the 
possible best for each individual, and of what was the 
best way to attain such result. 



114 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

Now, look for a moment, first at the conception of 
what constituted an education, or an educated man, as it 
obtained in the days when the idea of popular education 
first came into vogue and the first efforts were made to 
materialize that idea. 

Horace Mann may well be counted as among one of 
the best of the fathers of the original scheme, and he 
had more to do with its early exploitation than any other 
one individual in this country. And so, in considering 
what he was, what educational ideas he held, and how 
he tried to establish ways and means that would carry 
out what he believed to be for the best in the issues at 
stake, we are studying the whole group of his coadju- 
tors ; and from his single case we may practically learn 
the truth regarding all his colaborers. 

Let no one say that I am attacking Horace Mann in 
what I am about to say. I only use his name and cite 
his work because they are especially in point, and are 
fair specimens of all the beliefs and doings of all the 
fathers of the efforts to achieve popular education. 

Horace Mann was a classically educated scholar, and 
the ideas of what constituted an educated man in the age 
in which he lived were all of the classical sort, as that 
word was interpreted, educationally, at that time. To 
say, then, that a man was an educated man was virtually 
to say that he was a classical college graduate. I do 
not complain of this, but I beg to call special attention 
to it as an undeniable fact, for it is the very corner stone 
of what all this is leading up to. 

Such, then, were the ideas of what constituted an 
education, and of who were educated men. 

Now there is no denying the fact (nor is it strange 
that the fact should be as it was) that, with these ideas 



BITS OF HISTORY II5 

as to what constituted an education and as to who were 
educated men, the attempt to universalize education was 
exploited with these ideas as a basis. That is, the 
attempt^ as originally made^ was to classically educate all 
the children of all the people. Right there is the very 
beginning, the primal germ of what afterwards grew to 
be the material form of our public school system — of 
what these schools stood for, and of the particular 
nature of the output they strove to produce. It goes 
without saying that, for the most part, this original con- 
ception on these fundamental points, remains, to this 
day, practically where it started. 

I well remember hearing Mr. Mann say, in the ad- 
dress I have referred to: "We will make a system of 
schools which will render it possible for every child, 
rich or poor, to go to college." (The reader will recall 
the fact that I have already stated that I was "born 
long " on remembering and quoting. I would stake all 
I am worth on the accuracy of the above quotation, 
though it is more than half a century since I heard it.) 

In that same address, the speaker went on to explain 
how they would change all the "Academies," which 
were then very numerous all through Massachusetts and 
in some others of the Eastern and Middle States, into 
" High Schools," which all the children should be per- 
mitted to attend, free. He then told how all the public 
schools would have their work fashioned relative to the 
work which would later be done in these High Schools, 
so that the whole education of all the children, from 
entrance day to graduation, should be fashioned with a 
classical college education as the ultimate goal to be 
reached by all the children of all the people. 

Then he dwelt upon the result of all this, as he saw 



Ii6 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

it, namely, that all these children, all uniformly educated 
as he had been educated, would be thoroughly capable 
of informing themselves well on all questions and issues 
of public importance; how judicially minded they would 
all be, because of the training they had all received in 
the higher realms of culture which all would have had 
the benefits of, and so forth, and so following. It was a 
glorious picture, and I well remember how my father, 
who was an Amherst man, glowed with enthusiasm 
about it as he talked all these things over with Mr. 
Mann, who took supper at our house with the minister 
and a few teacher friends after the lecture. 

I ought to add, too, that it was because of all these 
great and good civic results, which the speaker said 
would follow this universal dissemination of classical 
learning, that he claimed it was right and just to tax all 
the people for the support of the schools which were to 
put our entire population into such prime condition for 
good citizenship. This point, I remember, he urged 
strongly, owing to the fact that it was a rural New 
England audience he was addressing, and some of his 
hearers were quite wealthy men, without children, and 
these rather objected to being taxed to pay for the edu- 
cation of other people's offspring. The whole address 
made a lasting impression upon me, as these excerpts 
duly prove. 

Now it is a matter of common knowledge to all who 
are even fairly well posted upon the subject, that the 
lines Mr. Mann laid down, more than fifty years ago in 
that New England village, have practically been followed 
in the rise and progress of our public school system, 
throughout this entire nation. These schools were all 
exploited upon a classical college idea of what consti- 



BITS OF HISTORY II7 

tutes an education, and the possible entrance to a classi- 
cal college was made the end and aim of all the work 
that was done in them, from turret to foundation stone, 
or vice versa. As such the work of our public schools 
was fashioned, and as such it has been pursued, for the 
most part, even unto this day. 

And so it was that our public schools, all of them, 
from primary to high school, were exploited with the 
idea that their chief function was that of being classical 
"college feeders." This was the first step in the par- 
ticular way in which the attempt to educate all the 
children of all the people was made. That it was 
honestly made there can be no doubt. That those who 
exploited the idea in this particular fashion fully be- 
lieved that the method used would yield the fruits 
prophesied is equally certain. The whole story is only 
a bit of history that everybody should know is true. 



CHAPTER XIV 

MORE BITS OF HISTORY 

First Factors combined to solve the Universal Education Problem 

— Declaration of Independence — Locke's Tabula Rasa Theory 

— What Man has done Man can do — The Military Spirit and 
Methods — Formulated Courses of Study — Times and Seasons 
for Given Parts of the Same — Penalties for Failures to Tally — 
Classroom Methods used — Memory Culture and Memory Tests 

— Commencement — Accredited Schools. 

There were certain other factors in the early efforts 
to educate all the children of all the people that must 
be noted just here. Among these were the generally 
accepted psychological theories of the period regarding 
the mental possibilities of humanity ; and these were 
backed up and buttressed by the basic sociological pro- 
nouncement of the Declaration of Independence, which, 
as popularly translated, aided and abetted these theories 
perfectly. All these elements were unified and woven 
together into a compact whole, and in this shape they 
were utilized as a philosophic basis for the cause of 
popular education to rest upon. 

And here is how the popular argument ran: The 
Declaration of Independence asserted that all men were 
created equal. The word "equal" meant alike — the 
dictionary said so, and a dictionary is the court from 
which there is no appeal when it comes to telling what 
words mean! 

Then follows Locke's tabula rasa theory, to the effect 
that the mind of a child is like a white piece of paper 

ii8 



MORE BITS OF HISTORY II9 

on which can be marked whatever we wish. These two 
formulas were then logically joined, as follows: Since 
all children are born alike, and their minds are all like 
blank sheets of paper on which we can mark whatever 
we will, it follows that all we have to do is to mark the 
same things on all children's minds, in exactly the same 
way, and a uniform result must be inevitable. 

Then followed another dogma which was in harmony 
with the foregoing philosophy, and which was formu- 
lated in this way : " What man has done man can do." 
This was translated to mean that what any man ever 
had done, any other man (and, therefore, every other 
man) could do if he tried hard enough and worked at it 
long enough. 

(My father was anxious that I should be a good Latin 
and Greek scholar, and when I was sweating blood to 
get my lessons and keep up with my classes in these 
studies, as I have related, in response to my tearful ap- 
peals for surcease from such sorrow, he used to say to 
me : " Persevere, Willie ! Edward Everett mastered a 
score of languages, and if he did, you can. Your mind 
is just as strong as his, if you will only exercise it as he 
did. Don't ever forget that what man has done man 
can do ! " And my father is not the only man who has 
quoted this phrase under similar circumstances !) 

There is another factor that had to do with the ex- 
ploiting of this first attempt to generally disseminate 
classical college education among the masses, which has 
not been generally recognized, but which was none the 
less potent. This is the prevalence, among all our 
people, of the military spirit, at just the formative period 
of our public graded school system on the basis outlined 
by its founders. 



120 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

This formative period came just at the close of our 
Civil War. For four years our whole population had 
been soaked in militarism till its spirit had permeated 
our entire body politic. This is one of the effects of 
war which is doubtless slow in manifesting itself, but 
which is the most abiding of all the evils that lurk in its 
trail. 

The essence of the military spirit is compulsion. 
** Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die " 
tells the whole story. 

And now see what follows, as does the night the day, 
putting all these facts and conditions together : 

The founders of our public graded school system had 
a theory for its propagation which was absolutely fault- 
less, from a logical standpoint. They were so convinced 
of its efficiency, when once it should be established, that 
they did not hesitate to guarantee the results that would 
surely follow. These results were such as the whole 
spirit of democracy had long looked forward to eagerly ; 
our people were behind the purpose to a man, and what 
remained but to put it into operation ? And, in the 
spirit of that age, if it was a good thing (and everybody 
believed it was), why not establish it by compulsion ? 
So the attempt was made to work the plan by military 
methods and in that way to compel its uniform accept- 
ance by all the children of all the people. 

In accordance with such military methods and usages, 
therefore, a plan of campaign was designed and put into 
operation which was systematic in the utmost degree. 
The work to be done by each and every pupil was out- 
lined with perfect minuteness and accuracy, from enter- 
ing day to graduation. This work was divided into 
regular portions and sections, and a certain amount was 



MORE BITS OF HISTORY 121 

to be acquired by the pupil in certain times, this allot- 
ment sometimes descending to the details of days and 
hours of the day. The plan was to enter a class of a 
certain age in a primary grade, have them all take a 
prescribed amount of work in a definitely fixed time, 
and all come out, at the end of each and every term, 
possessed of exactly the same attainments. 

To compel such results, in regular military fashion, 
penalties were fixed for all pupils who failed to reach 
the required standards in the times named. Several 
studies were included in each period of time, and if a 
pupil failed to "pass " in any one of these studies, as a 
penalty he was compelled to go over the work again, 
not only in the study in which he had failed, but in all 
the others which were included in that particular period ! 
He must stay in each "grade" till all the work of that 
grade was well and thoroughly done, before he could be 
permitted to proceed with any other work, further on in 
the uniform prescribed " Course of Study." In this 
way pupils were not infrequently kept for several terms 
in the same room, going over the same work again and 
again, until the required uniformity in all the required 
studies was reached. It was held that by this method 
only could symmetry in scholarship and character be 
attained. If pupils failed beyond a certain fixed limit, 
they were dropped out of school or expelled. 

And the chief aim of all this work was to fit pupils to 
enter classical colleges. These institutions practically 
formulated the courses of study which all the children 
were compelled to take if they continued in the public 
schools at all. In a word, the whole system was faced 
classical-collegeward, and it was manipulated almost 
entirely in the interest of these institutions which really 



122 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

dominated all the public schools of all the people in 
this country. 

Again, the technical classroom methods that were 
used for giving pupils an education at the time the 
public schools came into being were almost entirely of 
the sort used in the days when whatever was learned 
had to be ** committed to memory." From what dim 
past this practice came can only be surmised ; but it 
probably began as far back as the time when there were 
no books, when the memory was the only storehouse 
for the preservation of the record of past events and 
of knowledge previously obtained. In any event, in the 
early days of public school exploitation the memory was 
counted as the chief factor to be utilized and cultivated 
in <2:// educational processes ; and the selection of studies 
to be pursued and all the methods used in classrooms 
were aimed in the direction of cultivating the memory. 

As a result of this, the ability to reproduce, by the 
sole aid of memory, whatever had been once learned 
came to be the test of scholarship, and the pupil who 
could best relate or write out what his teacher had 
asked him to ** commit to memory " was counted the 
best scholar. 

To all this were added, most naturally, frequent written 
examination tests, in which each pupil's work was proved 
up by his ability to reproduce, at the arm's length of 
memory alone, any or all the things which had once been 
given into the charge of this omnicapacious receptacle. 

And this was only in harmony with the then accepted 
psychological theories regarding the memory. The 
memory was then regarded as a storehouse which would 
safely keep anything and everything that was well 
packed into it, and it was universally held by the peda- 



MORE BITS OF HISTORY 123 

gogical theorists of that time that from such storehouse 
its keeper could reproduce any or all of the things com- 
mitted to it, instantly, on call. It was further held that 
the capacity of this storehouse could be increased indefi- 
nitely, in all directions, by proper exercise and training, 
and the chief end and aim of all educational methods 
was to augment its holding area and the amount of 
stuff it contained. All of which it was claimed would 
develop the individual to his possible best in every way, 
— make him a good citizen, soldier, father, or what not. 

More than this, since it was the aim of all the work 
done in all the schools through all the grades as these 
things were first formulated to finally fit all their products 
for future classical college work ; and since it was neces- 
sary, before pupils could enter such classical colleges, that 
their attainments at the time of entrance be verified; 
and since memory tests of what had been done were the 
sole proofs relied on as evidence of proficiency in the 
attainments required, — since all these things were so, 
the ability to stand a classical college entrance exam- 
ination was made the unswerving requirement for 
graduation from a public high school. 

And all of this was only in harmony with the original 
plan, which was to make the public "high schools" 
take the place of the old " Academies " (whose sole 
business it was to fit pupils for classical college entrance 
by a written memory-examination test of fitness), and to 
make all the grade schools below the high schools tribu- 
tary to this ultimate end ; which same it was at first 
supposed all the children of all the people could attain 
to, according to the logic which was based on the mental 
theories of that time. Thus the whole scheme went 
together as nicely as the House that Jack Built. There 



124 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

is not a break in the logic of the entire process, the fun- 
damental premises being admitted. 

Once more (for we must trace this thread of events 
to the very end it finally attained), the burden of 
memory-test written examinations for classical college 
entrance finally became too hard to bear, and so Mother 
Necessity went to work to find a way of escape from 
its hardships ; and she found it, in the shape of " Ac- 
credited Schools." 

Dare I pause, just here, to trace the way this came 
about ? Bear with me a minute, I will be brief. 

Did you ever stop to think why it is that the last day of a 
year's school work is called '* Commencement " ? There's 
a reason ! As things used to be in classical colleges, where 
the name and custom originated, this was the day for the 
examination of new pupils for the coming term, the en- 
trance day for the "freshman class" for the next year. 
To attract as many new students as possible (for students 
had to be drummed up when there were only the tuition 
academies to furnish them) the college graduating class 
of the just-ending year was brought out and exploited 
and paraded to a degree, so that the on-coming youngsters 
might see what they themselves might some day become. 
And on this day all the new students were examined for 
college entrance ! It was a day of joy for the out-goers, 
of dread for the in-comers. 

And very shrewd all this was — this examination of 
freshmen from the academies just at this time ; because 
college commencement time came just at the time the 
academies closed their season's work ! These academy 
pupils were all fresh from the studies they had been at 
work memorizing through the previous fall, winter, and 
spring ; and the time to examine them and not have them 



MORE BITS OF HISTORY 



125 



" flunk " was before they " got rusty " ! Many of our 
fathers were very wise men ! 

And then, after a while, the colleges became anxious 
to draw pupils from greater distances. It costs money 
to travel far, and many pupils were too poor to make a 
special trip over a long way just to " enter college," and 
then go back home again and wait three months when 
they must make another long journey to take up their 
college work. All of which resulted in the colleges 
delegating to certain schools the right to examine pupils 
for entrance to their institutions and of certifying the 
same, these colleges agreeing to take such certificates in 
lieu of their own entrance examinations. This way of 
doing worked for a while, till, finally, the colleges agreed 
to take the diplomas of certain high schools as evidence 
of the fitness of the pupils who held them to enter upon 
collegiate work. 

High schools whose diplomas will be so accepted by 
colleges are now called ** Accredited Schools," and for 
several years it has been the highest ambition of practi- 
cally all the high schools in this country to become 
accredited schools with as large a number of colleges 
as possible. For so are their graduates relieved from the 
terrors of a written memory-test examination of fitness to 
enter college. And the high school which can present 
the largest list of colleges which will accept its diplomas 
in lieu of entrance examination is counted the best high 
school, the country over. And that is that story. 

Then came the increased demands of the colleges for 
larger and more comprehensive " entrance require- 
ments." These have been augmented, from time to 
time, till both high school teachers and pupils have been 
extra-heavily loaded by burdens they have been asked 



126 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

to bear for this cause. Sometimes these demands 
have been exceedingly dictatorial and exacting. It is 
only a few days since the principal of one of the best 
high schools in our state showed me a letter from a 
college which read, " If we continue longer to accept 
your diplomas as certificates for admission to our insti- 
tution, you must add so and so to your course." And 
the principal said he should have to stand for it ; that 
his patrons would never permit him to lower the stand- 
ard of their high school ; that they were too proud to 
admit that there could be any better high school than 
theirs ; that their sons and daughters must have a right 
to the best, no matter how hard it had to be worked for, 
or what conditions were made for its attainment ! 

With which statement of facts that are almost uni- 
versal in this country to-day, I close the second bit of 
history. 



CHAPTER XV 

SOME RESULTS 

Original Methods still used in Most Public Schools — Some Excep- 
tions noted — Graduation Day Experiences — Small Graduating 
Classes — Reasons for this — Over-age Pupils in Lower Grades 
— Attendance in First and Second Year High School Classes 
compared — Latin and Algebra as " Knockouts " for Crowds of 
Children — Statistics in point — " Laggards in our Schools " — 
Leonard P. Ayres' Conclusions — Report of United States Bureau 
of Education — Illinois Reports — Galesburg, Illinois, Report — 
Some Deductions — Some Conclusions. 

Such, then, is a brief review of what and how the at- 
tempt has been made in this country to educate all the 
children of all the people. For about half a century 
the enterprise has been exploited almost wholly on the 
original lines, and for the most part the work is still 
carried on as it was primarily undertaken. Here and 
there, in a few large cities and in an occasional town or 
rural school, efforts have been made to improve some- 
what on the original plan ; but the vast majority of our 
public schools, as they are conducted at this moment, 
are still moving on the lines of their primal projection. 
This is specially true of the schools in towns and cities 
of moderate size, those of say 5000 inhabitants or 
below. In almost every one of these the ambition still 
is to have their high school " accredited " ; Latin, 
always, and sometimes Greek, ancient history, algebra, 
geometry, classical literature, and a few terms in the 
sciences, which are chiefly taught by memoriter methods 

127 



128 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

— these, in the great majority of cases, constitute the 
uniform and inflexible course of study of these schools, 
and all graduates are required to qualify in these studies 
if they receive diplomas. In these schools the rule is, 
** take these studies if you stay in school at all." 

In saying this, I speak from a large experience which 
I have gathered from visiting schools of this class in a 
great majority of states in the Union. For the past 
fifteen years I have had occasion to travel through 
these states, and to visit cities and towns of the classes 
referred to, and wherever I have gone I have made it a 
point to visit the schools and carefully observe the work 
done in them. Add to this the fact that for the past ten 
years I have made from a dozen to twenty " graduating 
addresses " every season, and that these have been 
given in all parts of the country east of the Rocky 
Mountains, a fact that has put me in close touch with 
the actual output of these schools, and the reader will 
see that I have had a good opportunity to know what I 
am talking about. 

Further, everywhere that I have made a graduating 
address, I have made it a point to inquire about the di- 
plomas that were granted, what requirements they called 
for, and what purpose they would serve. And it has 
been a rare thing for me to find an exception to the 
" regular rule " I have noted in this chapter. In nearly 
every case, the high school was "accredited"; the 
diploma would admit to one or more colleges, all 
diplomas were uniform, and no pupils were permitted 
to graduate who had not met their requirements. 

Occasionally I have found a school where this rigorous 
method did not obtain, but such have been rare. I 
recall one school, where diplomas of two or more kinds 



SOME RESULTS 1 29 

were awarded, one sort to the regular classical students, 
and another to those who had taken a " mixed course." 
In this school the students who received classical 
diplomas were dressed in cap and gown, and sat on the 
platform during the graduation exercises. The other 
graduates were clad in their best clothes only, and sat 
at the side of the platform, apparently as a sign that 
they were not worthy of the high calUng to which their 
classical mates had attained. I merely mention this 
case in passing. Let the reader think of what it stands 
for, and form his own conclusions. 

As I review these various " commencements " which 
I have attended, and think of the size of the classes that 
have been graduated on these occasions, and compared 
these with the entering classes of which these graduates 
were a part, I have been struck, time and again, with a 
fact that is exceedingly significant when viewed from 
the standpoint of an attempt to educate all the children 
of all the people. This is what these schools have been 
honestly trying to do, and it is not unfair to look upon 
these graduating classes as a just measure of how well 
they have succeeded in this endeavor. The original 
plan, as outlined by Horace Mann, was to have all who 
entered these schools graduate therefrom. Because it 
was supposed this could be done, it was claimed that it 
was right to tax all the people, that all their children 
might compass this greatly-to-be-desired accompHsh- 
ment. I doubt if the classes I have seen graduate would 
average ten per cent of the enrollment of their entering 
classes in the primary rooms. And the question is. 
Where are the other ninety per cent.? Why are they 
not in their places on graduation day.? What is the 
cause of this great falUng off in the membership of the 



130 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



classes as the years of school life have passed by ? 
These are fair questions, and pertinent as well. 

Of course, some of each original class are dead. 
Some have moved away ; but the towns in which the 
members of these classes lived have been growing towns, 
and where some have moved away, others have come to 
take their places, enough to make the loss from this 
cause good, if that were the real reason for the decline 
in class numbers. 

But there is no need of beating about the bush, when 
the real reason for this decline is well known by all 
who are acquainted with the facts in the case. The 
simple truth is that the vast majority of the pupils who 
have dropped out of school as the years of school life 
came and went, have done so because they could not, 
or at least did not, do the work which it was required 
they should do if they stayed in school at all. At every 
grade examination there have been numbers of failures 
to "pass," with consequent stay-where-you-are-and-do-it- 
^//-over-again, or "demotion," results. Some of these 
pupils who have failed to pass stay where they are for 
a term or two, or a year or two, but the vast majority 
of them drop out, and " that's the reason," the real reason, 
for the thinning ranks of classes as they go up the grades. 
Everybody knows that it is a basic truth I am telling. 

A high school principal in one of the best schools of 
this class in his state told me that for ten years an 
average of only about forty per cent of each entering 
class had continued till graduation day. Sixty per cent 
of the entering grammar school graduates were down 
and out of school before they should have been. I 
asked him if there was anything like a uniformity of 
cause for this falling off at the end of the first year, 



SOME RESULTS 131 

and he told me that most of such pupils " failed in Latin 
or algebra, or both ! " And that is something to think 
about. For I am persuaded that this principal's ex- 
perience is above the average, in the number of pupils 
he retains, for he is a most excellent teacher, one of the 
best. The fault is deeper seated than the personality 
of the teacher, however, and we all know what it is. 

And of those who stay and go over the work again 
and again in the grades, we all know that little good 
comes from such procedure. Such pupils wear the 
life out of their teachers and themselves, and all to 
small avail. One can "spot" these pupils as soon as 
one enters any grade schoolroom in the country. They 
are several sizes too large for the seats they occupy, 
and are heads taller and pounds heavier than the chil- 
dren they have to recite with. The schools contain 
many such, "from Maine to California and from the 
Lakes to the Gulf." Superintendent Maxwell of New 
York made a report, not long ago, to the effect that a 
large percentage of the pupils in the schools of that 
city are from one to three grades below where they 
should be if they had kept pace with the classes in 
which they started, and since his report was made 
numberless similar reports, from all over this country, 
reveal the fact that his experience is not unique. 

(I have a school superintendent friend who is a good 
deal of a wag, and he said to me one day, " The only 
sensible way to grade a school is according to size ! " 
He was not wholly right, but there is much pertinency 
in his remark. Anyhow, this thing is true, that when 
there are such overgrown and over-age children, in 
any considerable number, in our schoolrooms it is cer- 
tain that something is wrong somewhere.) 



132 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



Just what the actual conditions are, in detail, on this 
point, take the country over, it is difficult to determine 
with absolute accuracy. Reliable statistics are very 
difficult to obtain, though it would seem as though they 
ought to be easily procured. Extended and ably con- 
ducted efforts have many times been made to secure 
definite data in these premises, but the results are far 
from satisfactory. Foremost among such investigations 
is that conducted by the Russell Sage Foundation, the 
results of which have been ably compiled by Leonard 
P. Ayres, A.M., under the title of "Laggards in Our 
Schools," a book that every teacher ought to be familiar 
with. It would be interesting to quote at length from 
this and other similar reports, but space will not permit. 
Enough to say that Mr. Ayres concludes that only about 
twelve per cent of all our children who enter the public 
schools remain in them till they are sixteen years old, 
and even this remnant is still further depleted in the 
two remaining years of public school life. 

Some fair idea of the situation can doubtless be 
gathered by noting certain facts set down in some of 
the educational reports referred to. Thus, in the Report 
of the United States Bureau of Education on Secondary 
Schools for the year 191 o. Chapter XXV, it is stated 
that the total enrollment in all the public high schools 
of this country for the year 1909-19 10 was 915,061. 
The total number of graduates for the same year was 
111,363; and the total number of graduates who were 
prepared to enter college for that year is given as 37,81 1. 

I have been unable to find the total enrollment in 
all the public schools in the United States for the 
year 1909-19 10, but for the year 1908- 1909, it was 
17,506,175; and according to the ratio of increase in 



SOME RESULTS 133 

previous years it is safe to say that approximately 
18,000,000 children were enrolled in all the public 
schools in this country in 1909-1910. Assuming this 
to be fairly correct, it appears that of the 18,000,000 
of children attending school on any given day of that 
year, 915,061, or about 50 in 1000, were in the high 
school; and of these, 111,363, or about 6 in 1000, of the 
entire enrollment graduated; while 37,811, or about 2 
in 1000, of the entire enrollment held diplomas which 
would entitle them to enter college. 

In the state of Illinois, conditions are considerably 
better on these points than in the country at large, as, 
indeed, they ought to be. In the report of the Educa- 
tional Department of that state for the year just noted, 
1909-1910, the entire enrollment in all the public schools 
of the state is given as 1,002,687, of which 63,392 were 
in the high schools, while 8137 graduated. Using the 
same method of comparison employed in considering all 
the schools in this country, as noted in the previous par- 
agraph, these figures mean that, in IlHnois, of all the 
pupils attending school on a given day, 63 in 1000 are 
in the high schools and 8 in 1000 graduate. 

In the city of Galesburg, Illinois, whose schools I 
shall refer to later, the entire enrollment for the year 
1909-1910 was 3814, of which j^y were in the high 
school, and 1 1 5 graduated. These figures mean that, 
on any given day, 200 pupils to each 1000 enrolled 
were in the high schools of that city ; and 30 in each 
1000 enrolled graduated. Or, to put the foregoing 
figures into another form, which may make their signifi- 
cance somewhat clearer (my desire is to be perfectly fair 
in this matter) let them be looked at as follows : — 

In the regular order of the public school curriculum 



134 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

the time extent of a complete course of study, from pri- 
mary entrance to graduation day, occupies twelve years, 
four . of which are allotted to the high school ; that is, 
one third of a pupil's complete public school life is spent 
in this department; and if all the children who enter 
school were to live and complete the entire course, one 
third of the entire school enrollment would be in the 
high schools. 

But, as already noted, death and other unavoidable 
destructive forces naturally reduce the ranks of the pu- 
pils as they advance through the grades, so that it is 
only just to discount the possible attendance in the four 
upper grades a decided per cent. Making such allow- 
ance, it is surely within bounds to say that at least 
5,000,000 of the 18,000,000 children enrolled in the 
pubHc schools should be alive and in the high schools, 
if these schools had their proportionate share of the total 
enrollment, based on the amount of time that they require 
for their work. The statistics quoted show 915,067, or 
not quite one in five of the ultimate possibility. 

Seen from a similar viewpoint, since the high school 
course occupies four years, we might expect out of a 
possible 5,000,000 high school enrollment, after making 
the required reductions, at least 1,000,000 graduates each 
year. We do have 1 1 1,363. And since almost the whole 
purpose and endeavor of the entire public school curric- 
ulum, through all the grades, is to produce graduates 
fitted to enter college, it is surely not extravagant to 
assume that a majority of those so planned for and 
wrought upon should leave school so prepared — that 
is, we ought to have at least upwards of 500,000 public 
school graduates holding college entrance diplomas each 
year. We do have 37,811. 



SOME RESULTS 



135 



The score of the State of Illinois, measured by the 
same rule, would show that, out of a total enrollment of 
1,002,687, about 200,000 ought to be in the high school, 
and the yearly graduating roll ought to be not far from 
80,000. The high schools of that state had an attend- 
ance of 63,392 and graduated 8137 in the year 1909- 
1910. 

Measured in the same way, the Galesburg, 111., schools 
with a total enrollment of 3814 ought to have about 
1000 in the high school, and graduate about 200 each 
year. Their record for the year 1 909-1 910 shows 'j6'j in 
the high school, with 1 1 5 graduates for that year. For 
the five years ending June, 1910, this school had an 
average of 125 graduates for each year. 

A comparison of these figures shows that in the matter 
of enrollment, the high schools of this country, as a 
whole, have acquired about 20 per cent of possible effi- 
ciency, those of the State of Illinois about 35 per cent, and 
those of Galesburg, 111., about 65 per cent. Compared 
as to output of graduates, counting those of all sorts, 
the whole country has reached a point of about 10 per 
cent of efficiency, the State of Illinois about the same, 
and the Galesburg schools about 6^ per cent for the 
past five years. The data furnished offer no means of 
comparing the number of college-diploma graduates in 
the different schools I have mentioned. 

Perhaps I ought to say that I have mentioned the 
Galesburg schools for two reasons: first, I happen to 
know about them ; and, second, they give a practical 
demonstration of what has been attained by the applica- 
tion, in a measure at least, of the principles and methods 
advocated in this treatise, as I shall show later. Doubt- 
less there are other schools in this country that can 



136 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

show as good, or perhaps a better, record than this school 
presents. I hope there are many such. The thing to 
labor for is to bring all our schools to even a greater 
degree of efficiency than any have yet attained. 

Here is another significant fact, which I take from 
the United States Bureau of Education Report, before 
referred to. In Table " A " of the report, the percentage 
of pupils in public high schools preparing for college is 
given, for a term of years, namely, from 1 889-1 890 to 
1 909-1 9 10. This table seems to show a steady decline 
of the comparative number of students preparing for 
college, in that the percentage given for the year 1889- 
1890 is 14.44, while for the year 1909-1910 it is but 5.57. 
And the record between these two dates shows a steady 
and quite regular falling off between the two percent- 
ages quoted. That is, it would seem from these figures 
that a smaller and smaller part of all the children of all 
the people are each year preparing to enter college, and 
yet this diminishing factor still controls the courses of 
study for all attendants of the pubHc schools. 

Now I am well aware that statistics are often mislead- 
ing, but it is surely fair to point out the fact that the 
figures quoted show that only a small portion of all the 
children of all the people attending school on a given 
day are among those who complete the entire school 
course, while a much smaller portion are fitted to enter 
college. And yet the fact remains, which I have so 
often stated, that the great bulk of the courses of study 
used in our public schools are planned, from primary 
entrance to graduation day, as if every pupil were to be 
fitted for college. There's the rub. 

Many of my readers will shake their heads over these 
statements, and perhaps some of them will rub their 



SOME RESULTS 



137 



eyes, not to say " sit up and take notice." But I believe 
all the record I have given is practically true to present 
conditions, no matter what we may wish about it. Ver- 
bum sat ! 

But if one doubts what has been stated, here is 
another good way to prove existing conditions from 
the other end of the line, as it were, one which can be 
easily tried by people who are curious in these affairs : 
Go through a train of cars on almost any railroad in 
this country, and ask every adult passenger, man or 
woman, ** Are you a college graduate .'' " and see what 
per cent of affirmative answers you will get. Of course 
the record will vary greatly in different parts of the 
country, and on different trains of cars. A train com- 
posed entirely of "Pullmans" would yield a much larger 
per cent of yes's than would one of "day coaches" only. 
This goes without saying. But a fair average would 
not be hard to find, and such average train would yield 
results that would be quite directly in point. 

Or, go along any city street that- is a thoroughfare 
for all sorts and conditions of men and women, such as 
Broadway, New York ; Washington Street, Boston, or 
State Street, Chicago, and ask every adult person who 
passes you in a " rush hour," the question noted in the 
previous paragraph, and see what per cent of affirma- 
tive answers you will get. To be sure, such a proof 
would not be wholly satisfactory, but it would certainly 
be a significant " pointer." 

Not to push the proofs further, it is evident to all 
thoughtful people that only a very small percentage of 
all the children of all the people ever graduate from 
college ; and it is equally clear that it is not fair to hold 
up to college-entrance requirements all the children who 



138 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

never will even enter one of these institutions, for the 
sake of those who do or can use such educational ways 
and means. This is the crux of the whole situation. 

And so it turns out that, if the classical idea of what 
constitutes an educated man is to prevail as a test of 
what our public schools have so far done, our attempts 
to educate all the children of all the people have not 
yielded, so far, the results its promoters hoped for, 
planned for, and honestly expected. That is certainly 
not an extravagant statement to make at the end of our 
fifty years of trial of the means and methods we have 
used for that period of time. This is a matter of com- 
mon knowledge, and it is only a truism to make the 
remark. Yet it needs to be made. 



CHAPTER XVI 

WHAT IS WRONG IN ALL THIS? 

Grounds for Criticism studied — Chief Causes of Failure stated — 
Personal Equation neglected — Uniform Methods not suited to 
Wide-varying Conditions — New Factors in the Modern Educa- 
tional Problem — Machinery — Scientific Thought — Democracy 
— Extension of the Field of Knowledge — Impossibility of Any 
One Mind compassing all the Now-known — The Rights of the 
" Born Short " under these Conditions. 

Criticism is never a pleasant task, and that is doubly 
the case when a popular idea or institution is brought 
into question. The public school system of this country 
has been, and is, exceedingly popular among nearly all 
classes of our people, and to put an interrogation mark 
before any of its ways is really an act to be shunned if it 
could rightly be avoided. But what I have shown in 
the foregoing pages is evidence that I have not orig- 
inated, and that I am not responsible for. If that evi- 
dence reveals the fact that our public schools are not 
doing what it was supposed and promised they would 
do ; if they are not educating all the children of all the 
people as it was declared they would when all the people 
consented to be taxed for their support, — then it is only 
just to urge that they "make good," and to inquire 
wherein and why they have failed to reach the high 
mark they were set to attain. 

Now, in view of what has been said up to this line, 
it must be very evident as to where some of the 

139 



I40 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

trouble lies. My belief is that the chief cause of the 
inability to show results commensurate with the hopes of 
those who exploited the plan of universalizing education 
in this country lies in the failure of the founder's of the 
public school syste^n to realize the natures and kinds of 
material they had to deal with i7i their undertaking. 
Their theories regarding the possibilities of the human 
mind, as it is embodied in different individual men, 
women, and children, did not tally with the facts in the 
case. Practically y they made no allowance for the per- 
sonal equation in the problem — an item which must be 
reckoned with by any system or device that attempts to 
deal with individual humanity. They took no account of 
the ^^ short'' and '■'long'' qualities embodied in the chil- 
dren whose development they undertook to manage, factors 
which form the chief attributes that must be considered 
in any successful attempt to bring individuals to their 
possible best. These ftmdamental elements, in all chil- 
drejt, were denied or ignored, almost absolutely, in the 
original fashioning of our public school system. 

Again, the matter to be taught and the methods of 
teaching the same that were utilized as a means of edu- 
cating all the children of all the people were never 
designed for, or suited to, any such general and wide- 
spread purpose. Both were originally planned and ex- 
ploited to fit a few of the children of a few of the people 
for a few stations of life. The whole appliance was 
primarily worked out to suit the needs of certain classes 
of people, whose best interests were served thereby; 
and it was assumed that this same appHance would meet 
the multitudinous wants of the masses of children and 
people such as our country now has. That is, a special 
appliance was used to achieve a universal result, and the 



WHAT IS WRONG IN ALL THIS? 141 

machine was not able to produce the output required 
of it. 

If this assertion needs detailed corroboration, be it 
said that the chief function of the system of education 
which was fastened upon the public schools of this 
country was originally intended to make book-learned 
men — clergymen, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and to 
give a scholarly adornment to the sons of gentlemen 
who had money enough so that they would never have 
to earn anything more, surely not by the work of their 
own hands. The system grew tip and was developed 
across the water. In process of time it was duly im- 
ported and established in this country through the media 
of the classical colleges which were founded here to prop- 
agate the cult from which they sprung. These are brief 
and truthful statements of well-known facts. Is it any 
wonder that the denouement proved that the means 
adopted were inadequate to the ends to be attained } 

Again, since the inauguration of the methods used in 
our public schools, three important factors have come 
into our national life, social, mental, and political, which 
were wholly unknown when the system was originally 
set up. These are the universal use of machinery, the 
positive revelations of modern science, and a conglom- 
erate democracy such as the world never before saw. 
Any one of these three might well overthrow all previous 
conditions of human Hfe and its environment. What 
this potent trinity, taken together, has done, and what 
their combined product renders needful to be done to- 
day, is almost beyond computation. It is only a truism 
to say that these three forces are the chief constituents 
in the lives of all our people, individually and collec- 
tively, at this moment. Indeed, they are so important 



142 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

that a brief review of their relation to modern life and 
education must be given here and now. 

As to machinery, it has revolutionized the domestic 
life of all our people. On the feminine side see what 
it has done within the memory of one no older than I 
am. My grandmother sheared sheep, carded wool, spun 
yarn, wove cloth. My mother could spin and knit. My 
wife can crochet ; and if I had a daughter, it is hard to 
say what she might or might not be able to do. No one 
is to blame for this condition of affairs, which is as true of 
most families in this country to-day as it is of mine. My 
mother earned a living by selling the product of her 
own hands made under her own father's roof tree. 
Should her granddaughter be required to support her- 
self, she could only do so by going out of her home and 
into the highways of life. Machinery has made these 
changed conditions for all the feminine part of our pop- 
ulation that must needs work for a living. I am not 
complaining of this, but I am emphasizing the fact that 
these new conditions that confront one half of our popu- 
lation cannot be ignored by any system whose business 
it is to fit this part of our community for life, to bring 
its constituency to its possible best. 

And on the masculine side of the issue, the changes 
which machinery has wrought in the last fifty years 
are equally in evidence and potent. My father reaped 
grain with a sickle such as Joseph's brethren used when 
that young dreamer went out into the fields to give them 
a message. His grandson can sit on a " harvester " and 
reap and bind more grain in one hour than his progeni- 
tor could so dispose of in two days of hard work. This 
one instance tells what might be extended into volumes. 
And it all means that the young men of to-day are 



WHAT IS WRONG IN ALL THIS? 143 

circumstanced not at all as were the young men of the 
time when our public schools came into being, and for 
whose needs they were fashioned. Our whole industrial 
life, for both male and female, has been changed by 
machinery ; and the educational needs of our people, 
especially our young people, have changed accordingly. 
The original plan for educating children in our public 
schools knew next to nothing of the industrial conditions 
that obtain to-day, nor was it fashioned to meet any such 
requirements. That is the first story. 

Again : Modern scientific thought, which has come 
into vogue since I was a boy, has wholly changed the 
mental status of our entire population. Never before 
have so many people thought for themselves as now in 
our country. The unyielding relations of cause and 
effect were never so generally recognized as they are 
to-day. All these new elements and forces in life are 
exploited and scattered broadcast among our people as 
never before by books, magazines, and newspapers, 
which fill the homes of our people to the utmost limit 
of our domain. The result is that dicta and dogma that 
were once accepted without a question are now chal- 
lenged on every hand, and are asked to give reasons 
for what they assert. This is a condition that power- 
fully affects our mental status. And yet its possibility 
never entered the minds of the original promoters of 
our public schools. They made no provision for it, and 
that they did not must be considered in the formation of 
any scheme that aims to bring every individual in our 
country to his or her possible best. 

Again : All this new order of things, industrial and 
mental, has been hurled bodily upon such a mixed-up 
mass of humanity as our world never till now saw gath- 



144 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

ered together into one place. The heterogeneity of the 
population in this country is absolutely unique. Our 
fathers never dreamed that it ever could be what it now 
is. Our citizenship is composed of people who have 
come from all nations of the earth. It represents 
every language, religion, custom, idea of right and 
wrong, political faith, that the sun has ever looked down 
upon. We have nearly a hundred millions of these 
people under our flag to-day ; they are red, white, black, 
yellow, and mixed, and we are trying to run the whole 
outfit on a New England ** town meeting " plan. 

All these conditions are new and they have forced 
new problems upon us as a nation, which we are com- 
pelled to solve or to suffer for not doing so. And in 
the solution of such problems, there is no single agency 
which is as potent as that of the education of all the 
children of all these people, whose well-being is involved 
in the premises. For all these varieties of people have 
children, each after its own kind, and it is the educa- 
tion of all these children of all these people that we have 
undertaken, and it is proving to be no easy task. 

Once more : The enlarged fields of knowledge which 
modern research and discovery have so recently devel- 
oped renders it entirely impossible for single individuals 
to do what they easily did a few years ago. When my 
father left college, he knew about all that was taught in 
the institution where he had studied. Latin, Greek, 
some mathematics, a little philosophy, and considerable 
history — these made up the whole curriculum that any 
scholar was asked to master in those days. One uniform 
diploma served for all the graduates from any or all 
classical colleges in this country at that time, and that 
was a good deal less than one hundred years ago. 



WHAT IS WRONG IN ALL THIS? 



145 



But to-day ? Our Illinois State University advertises 
five hundred possible courses of study in its curricula. 
It would take a student a hundred years to master all 
the studies taught in this single institution. And what 
is true of this great school is equally true of scores of 
similar institutions all over this country. No such con- 
dition existed when our public schools were founded, and 
no provision was made for such a situation. 

And yet, for the most part, as I have more than once 
remarked, our public schools are now working on prac- 
tically the same lines on which they were first projected. 
Nearly all our colleges still demand Latin as an entrance 
requirement, and all accredited high schools are thereby 
compelled to make this study a chief item in their cur- 
ricula. The result is that the great bulk of the grade work 
done below the high school is still forced to be fashioned 
as tributary to a classical college entrance requirement, 
as originally proposed ; and if pupils stay in the grades 
or in the high schools at all, they are compelled to do 
just this work or none. If they are "born short" on 
these lines, if they are unable to function mentally as 
the curriculum demands they must, they are dropped out 
of the schools that all the people pay for, and are thus 
left wholly unprovided for by the institution that was 
inaugurated for the benefit of all, and not for the needs 
of a select few. These are facts that we are all familiar 
with, and they embody some of the things that are posi- 
tively wrong in the present status of our pubHc school 
system. They show in a most pronounced way why it 
is that our schools do not now educate all the children 
of all the people. 



CHAPTER XVII 

CAN ANYTHING BE DONE TO HELP THESE MATTERS? 

No Wholesale Answer possible — Due Credit given for what Schools 
have done — " Class " Tendency in High Schools — Adaptation 
the Great Lack in Present System — Former Psychology should 
be revised — Pedagogic Methods need Modification — College 
Methods of Adaptation should be extended to All Grades of Pub- 
lic Schools — The Use of Books — Heads and Hands — "The 
Schools for the Children, not the Children for the Schools." 

In attempting to answer the question which forms 
the caption to this chapter, let it be said at the outset 
that no complete and wholesale reply can be given, here 
or anywhere else, that will fully meet all the require- 
ments in the case. The issue is too large to be settled 
immediately and right out of hand. But I believe some 
suggestions can be made that will help the situation 
considerably. And that is something. 

But before making suggestions, I wish to say that I 
believe I fully appreciate all that our public schools 
have done for the children of this country, and I want 
to give them full credit for all they have accomplished. 
In some ways, there is no limit to the benefit they have 
been to our whole community. They have taught 
untold thousands of foreign children how to speak, 
read, and write the English language with a consid- 
erable degree of accuracy. By mingHng all classes 
of our children together in the same schoolrooms they 
have fostered a spirit of genuine democracy that has 
been of the greatest value as a social equalizer among 

146 



CAN ANYTHING HELP THESE MATTERS? 147 

our people. I believe it is on this count that our schools 
have been of more value to us as a nation than in any- 
other one way. The great bulk of all the children of 
all our people have been closely associated together for 
a more or less extended period of their lives, in our 
public schools. They have worked together, played 
together, sung together, quarreled some, fought a little, 
loved much, and formed associations which have been 
of great benefit to all parties concerned. All of which 
is for the best. 

These things are specially true of the lower grades of 
our schools. As the pupils have advanced in the ranks 
of school life the " class " tendency has become more 
and more in evidence ; and this is specially true of the 
high schools, where, particularly in late years, the aping 
of college ways has done much to create social divisions 
among the students, — a condition which surely is not 
for the best. Still, these are minor matters, and if only 
all the children could be kept in the schools, such things 
would be but trifles. I merely note* them in passing. 

Be it said, then, that before any great change can 
come which will result in a more perfect adaptation of 
the work done in our public schools to the needs of all 
the children who ought to attend them, we shall have 
to have, first, and above all else, a revision of the psy- 
chology that the founders of these schools held; and 
also a great change in the pedagogical methods which 
these men inaugurated and established in our public 
schools. We also shall have to change the popular idea 
of what an education is ; of what constitutes an edu- 
cated man ; of what the purpose of education really is, 
and of what it will do for individual children. All of 
these changes in the present order will surely have to 



148 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

be made before our schools can redeem the promise 
of their founders, and fulfill the hopes of those who 
sustain them. Something of what form these changes 
may take, as time goes on, I venture to predict, as 
follows : — 

In the first place, I am very sure that, gradually, our 
public school teachers, of all classes, will come to 
recognize the truth of the " born short " and " born long" 
psychological theory; and that, in the not distant future, 
they will begin to modify their demands upon their 
pupils accordingly. This means that a single and uni- 
form curriculum, which extends from primary entrance 
to graduation day in the high school, the same for each 
and every pupil, no matter what his or her natural abili- 
ties may be — a course of study which, from start to 
finish, has for its chief end and aim the fitting of the 
pupil to enter a classical college — that such a method 
of procedure will one day be a thing of the past, as 
having been thoroughly tried and found to be, for the 
most part, wanting. In any event, this system has 
ignominiously failed to educate all the children of all 
the people, — to deliver the goods it bargained to turn 
over to those who paid the bills. 

My chief reason for this belief Hes in the fact that 
our colleges and higher institutions of learning have all 
come to recognize this primal psychological fact of 
"shorts" and "longs," of the variability in the mental 
functioning power of their students, and have fashioned 
their curricula accordingly. I do not know of any higher 
institution of learning, anywhere in this country, which 
now limits its students to a single course of study and 
issues only one form of diploma. The " elective " prin- 
ciple has become universal among all these institutions. 



CAN ANYTHING HELP THESE MATTERS? 149 

Not one of them could long exist if it abandoned such 
method and practice. They grew into this condition 
slowly. The most conservative of them rebelled against 
it to the utmost. But they have all finally had to " come 
to the scratch," — to accept the inevitable. They have 
done this loyally, in most cases — when they had to. 
There have been some blunders, not a few mistakes, 
and occasional failures in what has been done ; but on 
the whole the psychology which is grounded in the 
"born short" and "born long" idea, and the means 
and methods thereby required, have come to the fore, 
and they are here to stay. 

Is it not manifest to all thoughtful people that in- 
evitably the same principles and methods which have 
won out in our higher educational institutions must be 
applied in all the educational work that is done in 
all the educational institutions of this country ? This 
question will call, forth a storm of protest from many of 
my readers, just as the first declaration of the doctrine 
of individual aptitude as a factor in educational possibili- 
ties roused almost a rebellion in classical college circles. 
Staid professors in these institutions raved against the 
heresy, and set their faces like a flint against the theory. 
But it was all of no avail. The same thing will one day 
happen in our public schools. For truth is mighty, and 
it will prevail. It takes time for it to arrive, but it will 
one day reach the goal that is named and that cannot 
be countermanded. 

The details of how all this can be worked out, no one 
can now give. I shall try to outline a few of these in 
later chapters ; but, for the most part, their full elabo- 
ration will have to be the work of years of careful exper- 
imentation and of scientific research. 



150 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

Again : Our present schoolroom methods, of making 
memory the chief factor in the acquirement of an edu- 
cation will be abandoned, for the most part, in the new 
order of things and as time goes on. As I have already- 
said, all this way of working came from a time when 
there were no books. Now we have books, plenty of 
them. The thing to do in this new order of things is 
to teach our childreit how to use books ^ instead of trying 
to make walking encyclopedias of them. But more of 
this later on. 

Again (and this will be harder to achieve than the 
two changes I have just mentioned, because it involves 
so many people), we shall have to change the popular 
idea, which is now deeply seated in the minds of nearly 
all our citizens, as to what education really is ; what 
constitutes an educated man; what education is for, 
essentially ; and what it will do for each individual 
child. These necessary changes are of the greatest im- 
portance, and I shall discuss them at length in follow- 
ing chapters, in the order in which they are here stated. 

Finally, we shall have to introduce methods into our 
school work which will train hands as well as heads. 
And because the great bulk of our children must live by 
the work of their hands, by the same token a very large 
part of the education and discipHne we give them will be 
such as will enable them to do their work well, whatever 
it may be. 

In a word, as I said in another book, long ago, " we 
shall make our schools fit our children instead of trying 
to make our children fit our schools." We shall establish 
ways and means in our schoolrooms which, because 
of their perfect adaptation to the needs of all the chil- 
dren of all our people, will keep all these children in our 



CAN ANYTHING HELP THESE MATTERS? 



151 



schools through all the period of their school-day years ; 
and we shall stop throwing the great bulk of our chil- 
dren out of the schools which all the people pay for, 
because they cannot conform to classical college entrance 
requirements. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE LAW OF THE INDIVIDUAL 

The Inalienable Right educationally stated — How it can obtain in 
the Public Schools — School Master and School Teacher— Logic 
and Love — Superintendents and Principals — Grades and their 
Modifications — Force and Punishments — " Survival of the Fit- 
test" vs. "Feed My Lambs" — The Boss vs. the Leader — 
Democracy and the " Square Deal." 

Of course, the fundamental thing I am standing for 
in the position I have taken is the ultimate right in the 
premises of each individual human being. What such 
right is can best be estimated by considering the primal 
and final law of individual human life, in all social rela- 
tions. This law is as follows : Each and every individual 
human being, anywhere and everywhere, in all the world, 
has an inalienable right to do what and how he will, so 
long as such doing does not interfere with what some 
one else, who has the same inalienable rights, does, or 
wishes to have the opportunity for doing. That is, no 
one has any right to compel me to do this or that, simply 
because he wishes me to, or has the power to force me 
to. All of which means that, in the development of 
myself by means of the educational processes that are 
brought to bear upon me, the first items to be looked 
after are my nature, my needs, my possibilities, and not 
what will please somebody else, causing me to conform 
to a mold I was never made to fill, to be fashioned into 
something I was never designed to be. And what is 

152 



THE LAW OF THE INDIVIDUAL 153 

right for me, by the law of the individual is right for all 
my brothers and sisters, everywhere and always. Our 
Father in Heaven has no pets. 

So then the supreme question, so far as this treatise 
is concerned, propounds itself in this way. Is it possible 
to exploit our public schools upon the basis here out- 
lined, this law of the individual ; and, if so, how can it be 
done.^ I firmly believe such a consummation can be 
reached ; indeed, that it must be reached, if our schools 
are to become a permanent factor in civilization, as I feel 
sure they are. How it can be done it is not so easy to 
tell. But I venture to prophesy a little, again, as fol- 
lows : — 

In the first place, the predominating spirit which now 
is to the fore in the management of these schools must 
be changed. This spirit is now supremely manifest in 
the word " ^o^cvooXmaster,'' which we have inherited from 
monarchy, and which has its root deep down in selfish- 
ness. (I saw Head Master printed on a public school 
room door, only a few days ago.) 

Now this term " schoolmaster," and the spirit it implies, 
must give place to the term "school teacher'' and the spirit 
it implies ; and there is all the difference in the world 
between the two. The one means command, the other 
means service. The one says : " I am here to make the 
child do so and so, and he has got to do it, or go." The 
other says : " I am here to help the child come to the best 
there is in himself, he being what he is." 

The one says : " No matter what form a given child 
is intended to develop into, or what original abilities he 
may have; if he comes here to stay, he has got to be 
formed as I and the system determine, and we will com- 
pel him to go out fashioned from a common model." 



154 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

The other says : " It is my business to try to find out, 
and to try to help each pupil to find out, what he is best 
fitted for; what his or her limitations and possibilities 
are, and how best these latter can be developed ; and if 
we fail to come at this the first time trying, we are to 
keep trying again, in other ways, till we do find what is 
best, and then do this in the best way we can." The 
one holds that the children are made for the schools. 
The other holds that the schools are constantly to be 
made to suit the every need of all the children of all the 
people. 

The one has ever in mind an unyielding System, and 
strives, above everything else, to see that it is rigidly 
enforced. The other has ever in mind the individ- 
ual child, and stands ready to warp or discard any or 
all preconceived systems and theories that, experience 
proves, hinder that particular child in its natural develop- 
ment. 

The one has a psychological theory which declares 
that the minds of children are like pieces of white paper 
on which can be marked whatever we will; the other, 
that each and every child is born with a mind of its 
own, and with capabilities that are limited in certain 
directions by its body, and that these things must be 
taken into account in the education of this particular 
child. 

The one declares that any man can do whatever he 
wills to do, regardless of conditions. The other ac- 
knowledges that, so far as this world is concerned at 
least, we are finite beings. 

The one makes distinctions, and says that the so- 
called best people should go to the fore and should com- 
mand all the rest. The other is anxious to help keep 



THE LAW OF THE INDIVIDUAL 155 

the whole procession moving, and that each shall count 
only one of the crowd. 

The one favors classes, the other is for the masses; 
one is for some, the other is for all. The one is mon- 
archical, from start to finish. The other is genuinely 
democratic, viewed from any and all points. The one 
is military, the other is civil. The one coerces, the 
other leads. The one looks down upon the children, 
the other loves them. 

Now all this does not mean that the teacher is to be the 
slave of the child, that children are to come to school 
when they happen to be pleased to do so, and go when 
they like, and do just as they have a mind to when 
they are there. Logic may put it that way ; but logic, 
the dogmatic sort, has little to do just here. It is love 
and not logic that shows the way in all the higher walks 
of life. 

Will there be superintendents in the new order of 
things ; and will there be principals ? Most assuredly. 
The only difference will be in the mental and spiritual 
attitude of these functionaries. Instead of their chief 
aim being to command, it will be to serve. The ever 
uppermost question with each such official will be : How 
can I best serve, how best promote the success and wel- 
fare of the teachers and pupils which are committed to 
my care ? There are such superintendents and princi- 
pals now at work in our public schools — a good many 
such. But we must all admit that there are others, and 
that they are not all that way. Our aim must be to 
make that kind as numerous as possible. 

Will there be grades } There will be children in each 
school, and in each room of every school, who are so 
much alike that, on some point or points, they can be 



156 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

successfully taught together in a class. But it will not 
follow that all the children who are taught together in 
any one class will necessarily all be taught together in 
any other class, much less in all other classes. There is 
where all the trouble has come in our graded school 
work, as thus far done ; and, this evil eliminated, nearly 
every other wrong or mistake connected with our public 
schools will disappear. If the law of the individual 
can be faithfully observed, not to the letter, but **in 
spirit and in truth," there can be no doubt that these 
schools will have gone a long way towards success- 
fully fulfilling the mission whereunto they were given 
being. 

Will there, then, be no compulsion, no punishment, 
no exactions, no force ? 

There will be restraint for the wrongdoers — for those 
who interfere with others by their acts. There will be 
consequences, such as must ever result from mistakes 
and blunders, and from deliberate transgression. There 
will be positive requirements that each keep in his own 
place without detriment to any of the others. There 
will be the exercise of force wherever such is required 
to maintain the law of the individual, never otherwise. 
(There may be corporal punishment, even of a very se- 
vere sort, for those who are only far enough along in 
the procession to understand the language of bodily suf- 
fering; but this means will never be used for its own 
sake.) 

And this does not mean anarchy, or chaos, by any 
manner of means. It simply stands for the establish- 
ment of the schools upon a basis of love for all, in- 
stead of favors to a few ; of justice instead of partiality ; 
upon the spiritual plane instead of the material plane ; 



THE LAW OF THE INDIVIDUAL 



157 



upon the principle embodied in the words "feed my 
lambs" and "one of the least of these my brethren," 
and not upon "the survival of the fittest," as that 
phrase is generally translated and understood — namely, 
that the brutally strongest have a right to crush and 
annihilate everything and everybody that their unfeel- 
ing power can overcome and put under their feet. The 
whole change is from a lower to a higher plane, from 
the material to the spiritual; and that way all life is 
working. So, some day, this order of things in our 
schools must come. 

So again I say, the purpose of all work is to change 
conditions, and a change in conditions always means the 
passing of what is and the establishment in its place of 
what is to be. You and I are the workers in this par- 
ticular case of our public schools, and we must work for 
a change of conditions in these schools that shall cause 
them to harmonize with the law of the individual, and 
not leave them under the domination of a system that 
cares more for itself and its own perpetuity than for the 
children whom it is set to care for. There is the issue, 
clear and undisguised. The old must go, the new must 
come, and you and I must work to bring this consum- 
mation about. 

And, in doing this, we will not rail at, or blame, or 
curse what has been, or what is. "All these things 
must needs come to pass." But they have come only 
that they might pass, and to " prepare the soil for su- 
perior growths." And so you and I will plant, for these 
superior growths in our public schools, the seeds of the 
law of the individual, which, sprouting and growing up, 
will, in time, root out the law of the boss, which has had 
its day, and so must go under. This is what the live 



158 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

teacher of to-day must stand for, if he would fill to the 
full his place in the procession that goes towards that 
which is great. In our schools, as everywhere else in 
our democracy, we must give every individual ** a square 
deal." 



CHAPTER XIX 

WHAT IS EDUCATION ? WHO ARE EDUCATED MEN ? 

Inherited Beliefs — The Common Answer to these Questions — 
The College-bred only counted as Educated — Criticism of this 
Definition — Lincoln and his Cabinet — Bill Nye on Lincoln — 
Definition of the really Educated Man — Proofs offered — Night 
Ride with '^ Old Mike " — " Onto his Job " — Application of this 
Measure of Men — Whitman on Work and the " Loving Laborer." 

I HAVE said that one of the most difficult points to 
overcome in this problem of the education of all the 
children of all the people, is the deep-seated wrong idea 
that nearly all our citizens have, as to what education 
really is, and as to who really are truly educated men. 
These ideas, so generally held, have their roots in the 
far past. What they are, we have only to look into 
our inherited beliefs to find out and appreciate. 

Thus, what do you, dear reader, think education is .^ 
Have you ever defined this to yourself, or have you 
merely taken somebody else's opinion about it.** In 
either case, put it to yourself now, and see what your 
reply will be. 

Of what do you think an education consists ? Whom 
do you consider an educated person .? 

Regardless of what your answer may be, I believe 
that, if the average man or woman one meets in the street 
should be stopped and asked, ** Whom do you consider an 
educated person } " the answer would be practically this : 
" An educated person is one who has a large and extended 
acquaintance with, and memory knowledge of, books." 

159 



l6o ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

I do not say that is the definition you who are reading 
these lines would give, but I firmly believe that is the 
answer you would get from the average man or woman, 
anywhere in this country, and the chances are it is your 
inherited conviction. And this is only another way of 
saying that it is the popular idea, the idea that is gener- 
ally held by our people. 

And if this same average individual were asked to point 
out some one or more whom he considered as educated, 
he would undoubtedly name some clergyman, lawyer, 
doctor, school teacher — in a word, some book-profes- 
sional man or woman. 

Now I am not saying that he would not be right in 
this, in a way. I am not saying that book-professional 
people are not educated people. But I want to say, and 
say it large, so that " anybody, anywheres, can under- 
stand it," as poor little Joe has it, that these book-pro- 
fessional people, educated though they may be, are by 
no means the only educated people in the world. That 
is the point that I want to make, and make strong. 

Nor would the one who made the supposed answer I 
have noted be at all to blame for his reply. He would 
only be voicing the general idea of the age regarding 
education and educated men and women. If he had 
wished to tell it all in a word, he might have said a 
college-bred man is an educated person. That is the 
common idea, and there are the best of reasons for its 
being so. All the training of all the schools, for cen- 
turies, has tended to develop such a definition ; and the 
great bulk of the men and women who wish to be 
counted as educated, have insisted on such a conclusion 
being drawn. So it is perfectly natural that things 
should be as they are in this respect. 



WHAT IS EDUCATION? l6l 

Nor is this altogether ill. The only trouble about it 
is, that this view of the case is not broad enough. It is 
too exclusive. It shuts too few in and too many out. 
It means some and not all. The idea expressed in such 
a definition is, that these and these only are educated 
people. There is the trouble. 

Only college-bred people educated people ? Think, 
now ! Think of the truly great and noble men and 
women you have known. Think of those you have 
been acquainted with who have lived successful lives, 
who have been a blessing to themselves and to all their 
fellow men with whom they have come in contact ; who 
have done things and have known about things — oh, 
about so many things ! Maybe the things they knew 
about were not set down in books. Perhaps some of 
these people knew very little about books, one way or 
another. But they knew things. They did things. 
And by all true tests they were educated people. 

As a matter of fact, Mr. Lincoln was not very book- 
wise. The range of his reading was very limited. He 
surely never went to college. But who shall dare say 
that Abraham Lincoln was not an educated man ? 
Why, this great saved nation of ours to-day tells what 
a wonderfully educated man he was. Yet the college- 
bred men of his cabinet, and their likes all over the 
country, feared that he would fail because of his lack of 
education ! Two college-bred members of his cabinet 
wrote him a letter, before he had been president three 
months, in which they virtually told him that, on account 
of his lack of educational training, it was evident to 
them that he was unequal to the task of being President 
of the United States ; and that, if he would turn the 
affairs of state over to them, they would take care of 

M 



1 62 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

them as they ought to be taken care of, while he might 
appoint the postmasters and hobnob with professional 
politicians ! Fact! 

Nor were the men who wrote this letter sinners above 
all others. They only voiced the sentiments of book- 
professional men, the country over, at that time. Bill 
Nye put the situation very graphically when he wrote in 
his " History of the United States," " Cultured society 
was continually having cold chills run up its spine, for 
fear Mr. Lincoln would put sugar and cream in his cold 
consomme ! " The current idea was that the President 
could not be an educated man because he had never 
had a chance to avail himself of what was then popularly 
supposed to be the only means of acquiring an education. 

And again I must insist, lest I be wholly misunder- 
stood, that, in saying all this, I am not saying one word 
against colleges, or college-bred men and women as 
such, or against the kind of education that such institu- 
tions and such men and women stand for. The only 
point I wish to make is, that these people, these in- 
stitutions, are not all there is in the premises. They 
are not "the only." There are others; and they, too, 
must be counted in, in any true and comprehensive defi- 
nition of what an education is, or of who are educated 
men and women. 

If I should be asked whom I count as educated per- 
sons I should reply : '* All persons are educated who 
have so developed the powers and abilities that are 
within them, individually, that they can each do well 
the things they undertake to do." That, to me, is the 
real test of any person's educational attainments. It is 
not a matter of diplomas, it is not a matter of how or 
where one has reached such a condition ; it is a matter 



WHAT IS EDUCATION? 163 

of what that condition really is. The proof lies in 
ability to do and not in what one is supposed to be able 
to do. It shows itself in what can come out of an in- 
dividual and not what is alleged to have been put into 
him. 

I gave this definition some years ago before an audi- 
ence, and it afterward eUcited a remark from one of 
my hearers that I must note just here. 

The night before, I had spoken in another town, some 
hundred and fifty miles from where I was then speaking. 
As trains then ran, I had to make a night ride between 
the two towns. It was something past midnight when 
I went down to the station to board the train. The 
town was a division station on the road, and the train 
was already in the yard and undergoing the necessary 
refurnishings, as I came up. 

Now it happened that the 'bus from which I alighted 
set me out just alongside the engine that was to pull the 
train over the next division of the road; and, just at that 
instant, the engineer climbed down from his cab, to give 
his machine a final oiling for his run. I took a look at 
him (I always take a look — a good long look — at an 
engineer), and I recognized him as an old Irish engineer 
friend of mine whom I had known a good many years 
before, when he was running on an Eastern road. So 
I called out to him, " Hello, Mike ! " 

He flashed his torch in my face, and, in spite of the 
years that had passed since we had last met, recognized 
me, and gave me a hearty greeting, for old times* sake. 
We chatted a minute or two, and then he said, looking at 
his watch : " But time is up now, an' I must finish 'ilin' 
her. But put up your grip on the box, an' ride wid me." 
So I did as he told me to do, put my grip on the front 



1 64 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

end of the seat on the fireman's side of the cab, and rode 
with old Mike a hundred and fifty miles that night. 

And it was a ride never to be forgotten. It was a 
wild, stormy night. The wind was blowing and howling 
out of the northwest, and the snow was piling in huge 
drifts before us as we went. It was a ponderous engine 
that old Mike drove. The six drivers under her were each 
a full seven feet in diameter, and four revolutions of her 
wheels sent her nearly a hundred feet along the track. 

It was the night express. There were eleven cars be- 
hind us, carrying hundreds of men, women, and children, 
and thousands on thousands of dollars' worth of mer- 
chandise. In the Pullmans, scores of people were 
sleeping, just as safe as though they had been at home 
in their beds. As Mr. Taylor used to say, the train was 
" a world on wheels," and a wonderful, mighty world it 
was. 

And old Mike sat on that box and whirled that train 
through space at the rate of fifty miles an hour, in a 
way that almost took my breath away. He knew every 
switch, every rail, almost every tie that he ran over. 
Sometimes he would plunge into a snow drift that half 
filled the cut ahead of us, and it would seem for a minute 
as though an avalanche had buried us miles deep. 
And then, again, through a long stretch of open prairie, 
the wind would sweep across us as if it would blow us 
off the track. But through it all — the night, the storm, 
the darkness, the drifts, and the tempest-fury of the 
winds — through it all, that old man sat with his hand on 
the lever, and without a single false move, or the loss of 
so much as a mill of the treasure committed to his care 
or a wink of sleep to a passenger aboard, he drove his 
train safely to its destination, and then, in a quiet, un- 



WHAT IS EDUCATION? 165 

assuming way, entered his report of " on time " on the 
record book at the end of his run. 

Beloved, I take off my hat to that old man as I would 
to the greatest soul on earth. Let us uncover before 
kings and princes of the realm, on occasion. It may 
be well to do so. But in the presence of such a man 
as old Mike, let us not only stand bareheaded, but 
silent. 

I watched him in the most tense moments of that run, 
and there was a radiance shining through the wrinkles 
of his old face that almost made the darkness light 
about him. His eye gleamed and spoke a hundred 
things that tongue of man can never tell. His hand 
held the lever with a touch that was as delicate and 
sensitive to what it was controlling as is the finger tip 
of the most skillful violinist to the vibrations of the 
string it presses down. I was in the presence of an 
artist in his line, of one of the truly great in life. 

Well, the next night this old engineer came to hear 
me talk, and in my talk I gave the definition of an edu- 
cated man that I have given above, and he heard what 
I said. After it was all over, and the audience had 
gone away, he waited for me at the door, and after a 
complimentary word or two, he said : — 

" But I can bate you all out of the face in giving a 
definition of an iducated man." 

And I said, " Let it come." 

Whereupon he replied, "Why, don't you know that 
any man is an iducated man when he's on to his job ! " 

He was right ! His definition is better than mine, and 
it lets a whole flood of white light in where there was 
surely mist, not to say, in some cases, the blackness of 
darkness before. Doubtless it is a crude way of saying 



1 66 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

it, but there is a strength and directness in the remark 
that clears away the rubbish to a degree. 

Grant all that may be said about the "breadth of 
vision and loftiness of view" that is reckoned as a con- 
stant quantity in the generally accepted estimate as to 
what goes along with an education, and which are usu- 
ally counted as being a never failing asset in the belong- 
ings of a supposed-to-be educated man. These things 
may all be real, and they are all right, when they are 
genuinely present, and when their possessors keep their 
feet on the ground, even if their heads do touch the stars. 
But when they are only vision and view, as is too often 
the case, they are a delusion and a snare. Unless the 
man who has breadth of vision and loftiness of view can 
do tilings^ unless he is " onto his job," he is a poor excuse 
for a man, and a very worthless member of society, take 
him how you will. I would not be harsh, or unfair, but 
is not this the truth, when we come down to the bottom 
facts in the case t 

Indeed, I believe it is right and fair to hold Mike's 
method of proof as a sure test of the reality of any one's 
profession as to his being an educated man. Let him 
who makes such a claim be brought to this trial, as to 
whether or not he is "onto his job," whatever that job 
may be, and we shall all soon see how, like a refiner's 
fire, such a test "proves up." We shall see it burn and 
purge away all pretense and vainglory, all the dross of 
glamour and show, and reveal only the pure gold of what 
the man really has and is. None who are truly edu- 
cated will even think of shrinking from such a test of 
their claims. None who are unfit but will be forced 
out, on being subjected to such trial. It is fair to all; 
it is unfair to none. Let's try it on — ourselves ! 



WHAT IS EDUCATION? 167 

Meantime, let us bring to proof a few who have here- 
tofore been judged only by the old standards, and see 
how they endure the test. 

Ministers are counted educated men, anywhere and 
everywhere. I do not say they are not educated men, 
but bring them to old Mike's proof, and then see. 

Did you ever see a clergyman who was not " onto 
his job " ? Were you ever forced to sit " under the 
droppings of a sanctuary " whose overflow was a total 
stranger to the river of the water of life } If so, could 
you honestly say, or even think, that such a minister 
was an educated man ? 

Lawyers are counted as educated men. Did you 
ever know a lawyer who was not " onto his job " ? If 
the empty pocket books that have been made void by 
incompetent " counsel " could set up a wail, there would 
be a noise. 

Doctors are counted as educated men. Did you ever 
see a doctor who was not " onto his job " ? If our 
graveyards could tell stories, they would startle multi- 
tudes with their revelations. 

School teachers are counted as educated. Did you 
ever see a school teacher who was not "onto his job " ? 
If the thousands of children who have been made the 
victims of incompetents in the schoolroom could tell 
the truth about what has been done to them, their 
stories would make the very stones cry out. 

But I will not extend the list. The principle involved 
is all I care about. My point is, that old Mike's test is 
a true one, apply it where we will. Bring to it not only 
those I have named, but bring also any and all others, 
from any and all crafts, trades, or professions whatso- 
ever, and the result is the same. If they are " onto 



1 68 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

their jobs," they are educated in their respective lines. 
If they fail in doing well the work they undertake to 
do, they are not educated, no matter what their repu- 
tations for education may be, or what their written or 
printed credentials may say about it. The test is final, 
and from it there can be no appeal. There is no higher 
court to bring the case before. 

It is the business of our public schools so to train all 
the children of all the people that they shall be onto 
their respective jobs, all of them, when they are grown 
to be men and women ; for so, and so only, will these 
same men and women make first class citizens ; so, only, 
will they fill to the full their respective places as worthy 
members of the commonwealth ; so, only, will they 
demonstrate the proposition that the state is justified 
in taxing all the people to give all the children an 
education. 

This, then, is what an education really is ; namely, a 
training for life that will fit the individual to do well the 
thing he undertakes, no matter what that thing may be. 
This is genuine righteousness. Its pursuit is the build- 
ing of character, and it is all good for the soul. And 
this is only another way of saying that it is religion, 
pure and undefiled. 

Truly Walt Whitman says, " How close our work is 
holding us to God, the Loving Laborer through time 
and space." Only that is education which teaches us 
to work as God works, true to the line, every stroke. 



CHAPTER XX 

WHAT EDUCATION MUST DO FOR A CHILD 

Memory -knowledge and Manual Labor — Work generally counted a 
Disgrace — Predominance of Girls in High Schools — Results of 
this — Reasons given for Such Condition — Monarchy and Democ- 
racy Again — The "Throne " Idea — College Products and Physi- 
cal Labor — Professional Men and Sons of the Wealthy — Rural 
Theories and Practices Resulting — Labor not a Curse but a 
Blessing. 

We can never educate all the children of all the peo- 
ple till we change our inherited thought as to what an 
education will do for a child. As things are now, there 
is one idea that is most prominent in the general mind 
on this score, and it is one of the ideas that it will be ex- 
ceedingly difficult to get rid of because it is so generally 
diffused among our people. It is the notion that if a 
child gets a good memory-knowledge of books he will 
thereby be relieved from the necessity of working with 
his hands, and that to work with one's hands is dis- 
graceful 

It is really wonderful how widespread and deep- 
seated this notion is. It pervades all classes of society, 
from the lowest to the highest. An old washerwoman 
said to me, the other day : "I'm workin' hard to keep 
Mary Ann in school, so I am, so that, whin she gets as 
old as her poor old mother is, she won't have to work 
as hard as her poor old mother does." That tells the 
whole story, from that viewpoint; and, put in varying 

169 



lyo ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

phrase, according to the different ranks of society, it 
embodies the popular idea all along the line. 

A little while ago I visited a high school in one of 
our middle-sized cities, and I stood by the side of one 
of the teachers, in the hall, as the pupils passed along 
to their classes. The great majority of these pupils 
were girls (it is so the country over), and a fine-looking 
company they were. (This also is common.) And I 
said to the teacher : ** I wonder if one of those girls 
would be willing to marry a man who had a hard hand 
that had to get dirty in doing its work." 

And the teacher turned to me with a look of amaze- 
ment, tinctured with disgust, as she replied : " Why 
should any one of them ever be willing to do such an 
unworthy thing, a thing so thoroughly beneath her ? I 
trust they have all been educated above such things." 
And there you are ! 

And yet, the great bulk of the men of this nation 
have got to get dirty hands in doing their work. The 
vast majority of our men folk have got to earn their 
living by labor that necessitates soiling of the hands. 
There is no such thing as putting this fact out of the 
way, and we might as well face it, one time as another. 

And these girls that I saw in that high school are 
the natural mates for young men who have to dirty 
their hands with manual labor. They are from similar 
families, have similar parentage, live in similar homes, 
eat at similar tables. They are the sisters of young men 
who have to " work for a living." They should be the 
sweethearts and wives of young men who have to work 
for a living — helpmeets for them, in the fullest sense 
of that practical old word. But will such a training as 
the girls I saw were having in that high school, and 



WHAT EDUCATION MUST DO FOR A CHILD 



171 



under that teacher (and the case is not exceptional), 
bring them to their own — their natural own, on this 
count ? And if it does not do this, but does the very 
reverse of this, what about it ? 

Now the fact is, there ought not to be such an over- 
whelming majority of girls in our high schools as we 
now find there. And there would not be — there will 
not be, when we fashion these schools along new lines, 
on the basic idea of the real place of work in the world. 

As it is now, the great bulk of our boys drop out of 
our schools at the end of the grammar grade, and there 
they and their sisters part company. 

And this is bad. They and their sisters need to be 
kept together, for more reasons than I can stop to tell 
about here. But won't you take time honestly to think 
out a few of these reasons, and ask yourself what can 
best be done about these things, in view of their far- 
reaching importance — think what can be done about 
them in your school, or with your children ? 

If you stop to think about it thus, you will see that the 
cause for our popular thought regarding the lack of dig- 
nity of manual labor reaches back into the far-away past, 
and that it is grounded in the monarchical idea of social 
life and of political institutions. As generally thought 
of, it is counted to be the mission of manual labor to serve. 
It is almost never considered as worthy for its own sake. 
Imagine one saying " manual labor for manual labor's 
sake " ! We have been taught to say " art for art's 
sake," time out of mind. We have also been taught 
that " that's different." Is it ? I know that it is gener- 
ally thought to be so, but is it ? 

The fundamental principle that underlies a throne is 
that it, and all that it stands for, must be served ; and that 



172 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



he who serves is — must be — held in subjection, and 
therefore humiHated by such service. Men and women 
who have breathed free air do not like to be in subjection 
and humiliated. And because manual labor has for so 
long had the badge of meniality fastened about its neck, 
for this reason men and women who wish to count them- 
selves as " free and equal " are anxious to put themselves 
and their children as far as possible from the supposedly 
accursed thing. Right here is the core of the great 
desire of the multitudes to free themselves from what 
they have been taught, for ages, is the degradation of 
labor. 

There is another thing that leads to the same result, 
and that gives a special trend to what the multitudes 
desire to do in these days, in lieu of working with their 
hands, shows up very plainly when we look at the history 
of what has so long been called education, and of those 
who have been counted as making up the educated 
classes. A moment's thought will reveal the fact that 
none of these educated people worked with their hands ; 
and the result of going to educational institutions, as they 
have existed, time out of mind, has always been some- 
thing other than manual labor. Clergymen, lawyers, 
doctors, teachers, and always the sons of gentlemen who 
had money enough to live without working — these, and 
their likes, have been the "output" of the schools for 
centuries. I have said that before, but it needs saying 
more than once. 

And so, because these two things have existed to- 
gether, because those who have been to the schools did 
not work with their hands, the notion grew up that, 
somehow, the one was the cause of the other, and that 
to have an education exempted one from the necessity 



WHAT EDUCATION MUST DO FOR A CHILD 173 

of manual labor. And because manual labor is counted 
as something to be shunned on account of the bad name 
attached to it, and since men and women have learned 
to think that an education will free them from its sup- 
posed thraldom, for these reasons multitudes of those 
who have labored with their hands in the past are es- 
pecially anxious to have their children acquire an educa- 
tion so that they will be relieved from the necessity of 
work. 

How often have I heard some good old farmer and 
his wife say : " We don't want to have our children 
work as hard as we have worked. We had better move 
to town and give them an education, so that they won't 
have to work when they are grown up." And how 
often have I seen these same people move to town, 
prompted by such a motive, bringing with them a 
healthy and hearty lot of boys and girls of whom they 
might well be proud, but of whom they are practically 
more than half ashamed. And how often have I seen 
these same children fit only to be ashamed of in a few 
years, the boys cigarette fiends, carrying canes and 
walking like dudes, and the girls devoted to dress and 
society only ! 

I have not one word to say against farmers moving 
to town to educate their children, or against their truly 
educating them in any way they can ; but one thing that 
I do protest against is the purpose that underlies their 
trying to educate them, in so many cases, and as so 
often seen. They are the victims, parents and children 
alike, of the fallacious idea that labor is a curse, and 
that a book education will free one from its taint. They 
are far more to be pitied than blamed ; but, more than 
all, they need to be helped out of their unfortunate con- 



174 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

dition, they need to have their eyes opened to the truth 
in the premises. 

What our public schools must do is to enter upon 
such courses of instruction and training as will dignify 
and deify labor. Their work must be such as con- 
stantly to impress upon the children who attend them 
the fact that no one calling, in and of itself, is more 
sacred than another, no one more honorable or more de- 
grading than another. They must teach that the plow- 
share is fully as worthy a piece of steel as the sword, 
and that it is at least as honorable to serve humanity in 
a corn field as on a battle field. They must instill into 
the minds of the children the great truth that any and 
all work well done is honorable, ever and always, and 
that a botch is an abomination in the sight of God, no 
matter where, or surrounded with what supposed badges 
of honor and respectability the shoddy-weaving be done. 

Doubtless it is a part of the work of our public schools 
to fit some of our boys and girls for professional work 
that will not require manual labor at their hands ; but 
since the great bulk of our young people must labor 
with their hands when they are grown, it is the duty of 
our schools to fit them also for their particular work 
in life, work which they cannot avoid, and which it is 
wicked to teach them they ought to wish or try to 
avoid. 

We shall never succeed in educating all of the chil- 
dren of all of the people, till we first succeed in establish- 
ing in the minds of our people the greats basic truth that 
labor is not a curse but a blessing, and that it is not the 
purpose of an education to free a child from the neces- 
sity of labor — manual labor included — when he is 
grown ; but that its end and aim is to fit him so that he 



WHAT EDUCATION MUST DO FOR A CHILD 175 

can do, to perfection, the work in this world that he un- 
dertakes, or is set to perform. When the people fully 
comprehend and accept this idea of the mission of edu- 
cation in social life, then our schools will be fashioned 
accordingly ; and then, and not till then, will they ac- 
complish what their founders, and those who have fos- 
tered them, have always hoped they would one day 
accomplish. 



CHAPTER XXI 

SYMPATHETIC VIBRATION 

An Analogical Essay — Why this is Needful just here — Wireless 
Telegraphy — The Principle of "Sympathy" Stated — Tuning 
Fork Illustration — " Responsive Humming " — Application of 
the Principle to Schoolroom Work — What the System now 
Demands — What Teachers are thus Compelled to do — What 
should be done — How a Strong Vibration may Liberate Others — 
Functional Powers which are Clogged — The Expelled Boy who 
became an Expert Chemist — Answer to the "One-sided" Objec- 
tion — Relative Values of " Hums " — Crowbar vs. Marconi Point 
— The "Real Thing." 

And now, having cleared away a lot of the rubbish 
which the years have piled in the path of what seems to 
me to be true education and right educational theories 
and methods, as a prelude to the positive constructive 
work that lies before me I am going to sandwich in, 
just here, a sort of analogical essay under the title of 
Sympathetic Vibration, which I believe will be worth to 
the reader all the space it takes up in these pages and 
the time it takes to read it. 

I thought, at first, to just use the term "sympathetic 
vibration " and let it go at that. But on talking with 
teachers and some of my friends about what was meant 
by these words, I found that not one in scores of them 
knew anything about it — an experience which convinced 
me that I must explain the principle in detail if I used 
it at all. (To say this may not be complimentary to my 
friends and the teachers I talked with, nor to the reader, 

176 



SYMPATHETIC VIBRATION 1 77 

but it was true of those I spoke with, anyhow. If you, 
dear reader, know all about it now, skip this chapter. 
If not, read it all, carefully.) 

Wireless telegraphy has done more than any other 
thing in recent times to set one thinking about still 
more wonderful phenomena that may lie in the same 
general direction — may be based on the same principle 
as this marvelous invention, namely, those of sympathetic 
vibration. 

This principle is nothing new in the scientific world, 
but Marconi's application of it, in heretofore unknown 
regions, bids fair to revolutionize the civilization of the 
age. The fable of stealing fire from heaven, and of what 
that act did for mankind, is as a trifle compared with what 
this talking through the air is destined to do for human- 
ity. Already it has changed all the possibilities of war, 
both on land and on sea; and when the fighting ability 
of a world is remodeled, the whole social fabric is 
affected to a tremendous degree. And that is only one 
of the marvels of this latest of modern discoveries. 

Briefly stated, the principle is this : If a certain vibra^ 
tion is set going in a given plane, its waves go out in all 
directions from the originating point, and pervade all the 
space covered by a circle of greater or less extent. Now 
if, a vibration having been set up, there be within the 
affected space any other body or bodies that would 
naturally give forth just the same number and kind of 
vibrations as are given out by the one already in motion, 
then those others will take up the vibration, on their own 
account, and begin to vibrate in harmony with whatever 
is giving out the original waves. That is, they will 
vibrate in sympathy with something that is already 
vibrating, rather than because they are directly set in 



178 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

motion themselves. This is what is called sympathetic 
vibration. 

Take a simple illustration, which you can easily verify 
if you care to do so : Suppose you take two common 
tuning forks which, being struck, both give forth the 
tone of A of the musical scale. Bore a hole in each of 
two wooden blocks, and set the forks up on their handles 
in these holes, one in each block. Set one of these 
blocks, with its fork inserted, on a table at one end of a 
room, and put the other block and fork somewhere at 
the other end of the room. Now if you will strike one 
of these block-supported forks vigorously; or, better 
still, draw a fiddle bow across it with considerable force, 
and so set it to humming, so that it will give forth a 
good full tone, and will keep this up for a few seconds, 
the fork at the other end of the room will begin to 
vibrate without your touching it at all, and you can thus 
cause it to give out so strong a tone that it can be heard 
all over the room. Indeed, when you get it once well 
humming, from sympathy with the original, you can put 
your hand on the first fork, the one you made to vibrate 
directly, thereby stopping its vibrations, and the fork that 
was made to hum sympathetically will keep on vibrating 
for some seconds afterwards. This is a very simple and 
beautiful experiment, and well repays the making. 

This principle of sympathetic vibration is the basis of 
Mr. Marconi's wireless telegraphy, only he uses mag- 
netic vibrations instead of sound vibrations to secure his 
results. 

Now suppose, instead of having two A tuning forks, 
you have two sets of similar forks, covering all the tones 
from A to G in the musical scale. Suppose these to be 
mounted on blocks, as before, and one set put at one 



SYMPATHETIC VIBRATION 



179 



end of a room, and the other set at the other end of the 
room, as in the other case. 

Now if you strike the A of one set, the A in the other 
set will vibrate sympathetically ; but that is all the re- 
sponse you will get from the whole row of forks. The 
B, C, D, E, F, and G will be as silent as though there 
were no such thing as vibration in all the world. The 
same thing will occur if you strike any other one fork, 
as B, or C, or E, etc. The corresponding fork will vi- 
brate, and all the rest will be dumb. Or, if you strike 
all seven of one set, at one and the same time, all the 
other seven will vibrate in response, each fork picking 
out its own particular vibrations from what seems to be 
a jangle of sounds. None of them will get mixed up, 
none will fail to respond. 

Now, suppose you had a row of seven forks, ranging 
from A to G, on one side of the room, and on the other 
side a row of forks that had never been tested, but 
which were theoretically supposed to be the same as 
those you knew about ; and suppose, further, that it was 
your business to set up vibration in the forks that you 
really did not know about, but which were supposed to 
be so and so, by causing them to vibrate sympathetically 
with your own bank of forks. And suppose, too, that you 
had been taught that the only correct way to set up sym- 
pathetic vibrations in an unknown row of forks was to 
begin with your own A fork, and to secure a response 
from a corresponding fork of that particular key, from 
across the room, before you proceeded any further, or 
tried any other forks in the row ! So you strike your 
A, and look for a sympathetic vibration from across the 
room. And suppose there be no response, nothing but 
silence like the grave ! 



l8o ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

And then suppose you say : " I must get a response 
from this A, and I will!'' So you pound away on 
your A, and keep pounding, and still nothing comes of 
it from the other side of the house. You pound and 
listen, and then pound and listen again, but it all goes 
for nothing. 

Then suppose you fall back on the authorities that 
you may have spent years in becoming acquainted with, 
and which say : " In order to awaken a sympathetic 
vibration in a bank of forks across the room, first strike 
your own A, and get a sympathetic response from that 
before proceeding further, etc." Moreover, suppose 
the System you are serving under says to you : " You 
must get a response from A before you do anything 
else. In order that the forks across the room may be 
regularly graded, it is necessary that the A be developed 
in the row, and that particular tone be first forthcoming. 
The System demands this, and you must bring about 
such a result if you expect to stay where you are." 
Then what .-' 

Then, in the language of the wicked world, " you are 
up against it," and it is no wonder that you grow des- 
perate. So you pound away on your A till you are 
nearly wild ; and when no response comes you do one 
of two things : either you manage somehow to fabri- 
cate some kind of a noise on the other side of the room 
that, for the time being (examination day), will sound 
something like an A vibration ; or else you say, " The 
forks on the other side of the room are worthless, and I 
will throw them all out and be rid of them, for they are 
not worth bothering with ! " And so you " drop " or 
" expel " the whole outfit ! 

Is my analogy too severe.? I think not. The fact 



SYMPATHETIC VIBRATION l8l 

is, there is nothing the matter with your A, nor with 
the row of forks across the room. The only trouble 
lies in the fact that you are trying to do the impossible, 
to arouse a sympathetic vibration where there is noth- 
ing in sympathy to vibrate. The only difficulty with 
the row of forks across the room is that they have no A 
in their row ! But they may have a first-class B and C 
and D and E and F and G. And if you would only 
strike, or be permitted to strike, one or all of these in 
your own bank, there would be no trouble about getting 
a response from their correspondents across the room. 

Or, having tried to get a response from A, and having 
failed, would it not be good common sense to try some 
other fork before condemning the whole row opposite, 
or before throwing them all out to rust in the gutter } 

Or, knowing that there are forks in the other bank 
that can and do vibrate "just naturally," would it not 
be a shame to muffle these and declare that they should 
never give forth a single wave of sound till an A-tone 
of more or less volume could be developed ? 

How simple all these questions seem when they re- 
late to tuning forks ! I believe they are just as simple, 
and as apropos, when they relate to boys and girls. 
These " born short " pupils, of the thousand-and-one 
varieties, fail to respond to our efforts to arouse them 
sympathetically because there is nothing in them that 
will, at that time^ vibrate in harmony with the particular 
vibrations that we set up. If you doubt this, watch any 
such pupil, and you cannot fail to be convinced of the 
truth of my proposition. In such cases, the child's eye 
gives forth no answering light, his face is as blank as a 
bare wall, and his whole being expresses only inanity. 
But touch this same child on a key that he can vibrate 



l82 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

in harmony with, and you have a live being on the in- 
stant. We all know how it is. 

" But," some one says, *' should not every well-bal- 
anced set of tuning forks have an A ? Is it right to 
permit such a bank to continue to exist in a partially 
completed condition ? Should we not make it our chief 
endeavor to remedy the deficiency, and so make perfect 
harmony possible ? " Or, applied to boys and girls, the 
question is asked : " Are we not in danger of making 
one-sided people if we permit them to grow where they 
are naturally strong, and do not compel them to keep 
an even pace with all the faculties of the human mind ? " 

To which I make reply : In the case of the tuning 
forks, it is doubtless possible to buy the missing links 
in the open market, and duly install them in their 
proper places ; but when it comes to boys and girls, the 
thing cannot be done in that way. There is no shop in 
all the world that manufactures human capabilities and 
keeps them on sale ! 

And, more than that, I do not believe there is a 
thousandth part of the danger that is so generally talked, 
of developing one-sided people by permitting them to 
move out strongly along the lines of their native abili- 
ties. On the contrary, I am thoroughly convinced that 
the most promising way to get an individual to grow 
strong where he is naturally weak is to give him a 
chance to use his strength where he has the ability to 
do so. 

If a given bank of forks seems to be minus an A, 
you can never develop one in that bank by merely 
sounding your own A. But strike all the rest of your 
row, and get a good strong vibration from the other 
forks in response, and something may come of it. 



SYMPATHETIC VIBRATION 183 

Perhaps the A in the other bank is cobwebbed, or 
muffled in some way, and if you can give the rest of 
the row a good vigorous shaking up, so that its very 
foundation trembles in response, you may, perchance, 
jar the A loose, and get a hum from it when you were 
least expecting it. I have seen such an outcome more 
than once. But I never saw much of any good come 
from trying to force a sympathetic vibration. That is 
not nature's way — God's way! 

As a case in point, I once knew a boy who was an 
" incorrigible " in school for years. He had been sus- 
pended and expelled, time and again. When he was 
about sixteen, the superintendent met him on the street 
one day, and said to him : " George, is there anything 
in school that you would really like to study ? " And 
the boy replied: *'Yes, I've always wanted to study 
chemistry, but I shall never know enough to do it." And 
the superintendent said : " If you will come to school 
to-morrow, I'll put you into a chemistry class, and you 
needn't study anything else." The- boy agreed, and 
the experiment was tried. 

Before the first term was over, this boy slept in the 
school laboratory every night for a whole week, in order 
to keep continuous watch of some delicate experiments 
he was making. He stuck to the work till he had done 
all the chemistry that could be done in the local school ; 
and then, though he was woefully deficient in nearly all 
the other high school studies, the superintendent suc- 
ceeded in getting him admitted to the chemistry course 
in one of the best colleges in the country, where he 
led his class in his favorite study. 

I saw a letter written to the superintendent by this 
boy when he was in college. There was scarcely a 



184 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

misspelled word in it, and the composition was good. 
Yet he had been a proverbially poor speller in school, 
and he was once expelled because he simply would not 
do written language work. It is fair to say that there 
were shortcomings in the letter, but these were chiefly 
grammatical errors, which were the result of environ- 
ment in the boy's early life, such as the use of " done " 
for *'did," and "saw" for "seen," etc. These things 
are bad, I grant; but is it not far better to have a live, 
decent boy, such as this young fellow became, with 
grammatical errors included, than to have a worthless 
loafer, such as he would most surely have become had 
he not been set on his feet as he was ? That is the 
point, and there can be but one answer. 

The last I knew of the young man, he was holding a 
responsible position as chemist in a large commercial 
establishment. And if you should happen to meet him 
at dinner, or in a parlor, or in any ways of common 
social life, you would never think about his being one- 
sided. 

Oh, perhaps if you are " long " on ancient history, 
and should try to draw him out on the details of your 
favorite subject, he might not vibrate fast or hard just 
there. But he could easily turn the tables on you by 
" a turn about " which would be only " fair play." You 
might detect a shortage in his grammar, and be sorry 
for his misfortune, but you would be a prig if you failed 
to see in him a very bright man, or if you turned him 
down because of his weak place. 

And this should be remembered, too, when we talk 
about one-sided people. We are very apt to set a man 
down as belonging in this class if he fails to respond to 
our own particular hum. More than that, we are wont 



SYMPATHETIC VIBRATION 185 

to count some hums as very much superior to other 
hums ; and we are quite apt to be cock-sure that our 
own particular hum is the finest in all the world. But 
the fact is, there is not nearly the difference in hum 
values that there is commonly supposed to be; and, 
always, a genuine vibration of almost any sort is to be 
preferred to one that is merely a motion gone through 
with because it is the proper thing, or one that has been 
manufactured by somebody else, and somehow fastened 
to the party who merely shakes according to rule. 

A truly sympathetic vibration is a joy to all who feel 
its animating thrill. Its counterfeit is not only a bore to 
all parties concerned, but it is a dismal, soul-destroying 
lie. An education that is gained by the sympathetic 
response of the student to what he is taught is a live 
thing that will endure, and always be full of value and 
dehght. Knowledge that is acquired by learning things 
only because they are in "the course" is a dead thing 
that will be buried out of sight, and utterly forgotten in 
a few years, at most. In the brief space that it shows 
semblance of life it will prove itself valueless and a de- 
lusion ; and, buried, it will never be missed. 

A machine-shaken crowbar is not a sensitive Marconi 
point. Nevertheless, it may be a first-class crowbar. 
The only trouble comes in trying to play it off for what 
it is not, and never can be. A good crowbar is as valu- 
able in its place as a Marconi point is in its place. But 
it is not well to try to make either take the place of the 
other. The analogy holds good in the schoolrooms of 
our public schools, and in the attempted education of 
all the children of all the people, everywhere and always. 



CHAPTER XXII 

EDUCATIONAL VALUES 

The Regular and Conventional Views on this Subject — "The 
Humanities " — Ability to read Latin and Greek a Transient 
Acquirement for most of the Classically Educated — They do not 
"hum" to these Studies — Ex-President Eliot's Testimony — 
Educational Value of Manual Training — The Real Measure of 
any Educational Value — Latin Races, Mathematics and Lan- 
guage — The Negro and Logical Ability — Disregard of such 
Facts depletes the Ranks of the Ought-To-Be-Educated — Re- 
forms that must follow. 

The methods of education that I have advocated in 
these pages naturally suggest the subject of educational 
values, which must be fairly considered from this new 
pedagogic viewpoint, in any comprehensive treatment 
of the issue in hand. 

Since time out of mind, educational theorists have 
had much to say regarding the relative educational value 
of studies of various sorts, and their corresponding worth 
as a means for developing a human mind ; and, for rea- 
sons that I cannot go into here, the great balance of 
opinion has been, for many years, in favor of the classi- 
cal studies of Greek, Latin, and history (especially 
ancient history) as being the most potent in this re- 
spect. In addition to these, mathematics has sometimes 
been included. The classics have been called " the 
humanities," and it has been given out, over and over 
again, ever since Plato's time, that the pursuit of these 
particular studies would produce a wonderfully mollify- 

i86 



EDUCATIONAL VALUES 1 87 

ing, gentlemanizing effect upon all those who pursued 
them. 

There is no question but that this claim is true, in 
some cases, perhaps in a great many, where people 
vibrate that way ; but it is very far from being true for 
mankind in general — for all the children of all the 
people. 

The simple fact is, there is no one study, or set of 
studies, that will produce uniformly good results in all 
cases, for all children. It is a matter of individuality, 
of personality, here as elsewhere in all the ways of life. 
One study has educational value for one child, another 
for another. But, always, those studies which will set a 
given child a- humming are the ones, and the only ones 
worth mentioning, that have educational value for that 
child. If Greek and Latin will do this for any child, or 
for any number of children, all right. And there is a 
considerable number of such children, I am sure ; but 
that the number is as great as the devotees of the *' hu- 
manities " idea have led us to think — of this I am 
greatly in doubt. 

How many men or women do you know who can read 
either Greek or Latin to amount to anything ? How 
many pupils have you ever had who really vibrated in 
response to the classics.? Some, surely, but not very 
many. 

A college president told me, only a few days ago, 
that he did not think five men in one hundred w^ho had 
studied the classics in college could read either Greek 
or Latin, to amount to much, five years after graduation 
day. The statement is his, not mine, and he is a clas- 
sically educated man, one who believes in that sort of 
thing. I could but wonder, though, how truly the 



1 88 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

ninety-five, who forgot within five years the languages 
they had spent so much time upon, how truly they ever 
hummed to these languages, and of how much educa- 
tional value these studies really were to those who pur- 
sued them. 

On the other hand, a friend of mine who studied 
French for only one year, and that under a very poor 
teacher, thirty-five years ago, now reads that language 
almost as well as she reads English. But she hums to 
that language. Her geometry, though, that she spent 
weary months upon, is a dead thing to her now, and has 
been so for years. The question is, was it ever alive, 
or is any study ever alive that one does not naturally 
vibrate in harmony with while pursuing it, and retain, 
readily, ever afterwards ? What do you think ? 

In the presence of facts like these, to make a course 
of study that insists that a pupil must vibrate to these 
classical studies, or to any other particular studies, if he 
stays in school at all, is just as bad as possibly can be. 

On this point, so excellent an authority as ex-President 
Eliot, of Harvard, has recently said that " whatever 
study is well and thoroughly taught in public high 
schools, taught in a way to inspire interest and give 
trained mental power, is of genuine educational value." 
Which is only another way of saying that any study 
that the pupil vibrates in harmony with, is, for that 
child, a valuable means for his genuine education. 
When the day dawns that sees all the college presidents 
in this country in harmony with ex-President Eliot on 
this count, that day will note a tremendous advance in 
all the educational work of America. Speed the day! 

For the sake of emphasizing a point that needs bear- 
ing down on just here, I call the reader's attention to 



EDUCATIONAL VALUES 1 89 

the fact that the above-quoted opinion from President 
Eliot is broad enough to include the discipline and cul- 
ture that comes from business and manual training, from 
actual, practical work with head and hands. Here is a 
source of educational value that has never been very- 
high ly thought of, that has never counted for very much, 
especially in the eyes of those who have been reckoned 
as educated men and women. Yet, that it has a meas- 
ureless value of this sort for multitudes of children, 
is every day becoming more and more apparent. In a 
way that I shall speak of later in greater detail, manual 
training initiates and develops capacity for the reception 
of genuine knowledge that is a great factor in true 
educational growth. 

Besides this, there are thousands, yes, millions of chil- 
dren in this country that will vibrate in this plane of 
manual work (or, at least, the beginnings of their vibra- 
tion can be assured here), who can never respond to the 
stimulative energies included in a regular graded school 
course, to amount to very much. But, once genuinely 
vibrating in a plane to which they naturally respond, the 
possibility of getting them to respond in still other planes 
is greatly increased. The point is that, as things now 
are, these millions of children who fail to respond as the 
System declares they must, if they stay in the schools — 
these children are dropped out of the schools altogether, 
thereby losing that culture, training, and guidance for 
mature life which their years demand, and which the 
school ought to give to every child in this nation. Man- 
ual training would keep multitudes of these children in 
the schools a great deal longer than they now stay there, 
all of which would be just so much to their advantage. 

So, then, the basic need in determining for each child 



1 90 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



what studies are of educational value to him or to her is 
to find out those that will secure a genuine response from 
that particular child. This does not mean that a child 
is never to be asked or required to set himself vigorously 
to work to accomplish a task that may not be altogether 
pleasant, at the outset, — not that at all. Neither does it 
mean that if a pupil does not take immediate delight in 
a given study, that this is proof positive that he is " born 
short" on that side, and so should never be asked to 
pursue that study further. We all know, though, well 
enough, just what it does mean. We know that it is 
practically useless, and often wicked, to hold a pupil 
that we have proved, over and over again, has no apti- 
tude whatever for a given study — who does not vibrate 
to its stimulating energy in the least — that it is a sin to 
keep such a student at such work, regardless of the way 
he is. That is the whole story. Such work will rarely 
if ever do him any good at all. The chances are many 
to one that it will do him positive harm. I have seen 
such results in multitudes of cases, and so have you, 
if you have honestly watched the phenomena. 

The right thing to do is, if we find a pupil in our pub- 
lic schools who actually fails to vibrate to a given stimu- 
lus, after having honestly tried to do so, but who will 
vibrate in some other plane — the thing to do is to per- 
mit such pupil to vibrate where he can, and so keep him 
in the schools. He should never be cast out because he 
is unable to vibrate according to the course, or just as 
his class vibrates. 

Now, the fact is, there are not only individual chil- 
dren, but there are whole races of children who lack the 
ability to vibrate in certain planes, but who can and will 
vibrate, strongly and well, in other planes. Thus, the 



EDUCATIONAL VALUES 191 

children of the Latin races are, for the most part, 
"short" on the mathematical side and *'long" on the 
language and artistic sides of their make-up. Any 
teacher who has had experience with children of these 
nationalities will verify this statement. 

I was walking on the streets of a Pennsylvania town 
with the superintendent of schools one day ; and, as it 
was a few minutes after four, the school children were 
just on their way home. I noticed a large contingent 
of Italian children in the groups that we met (it was in 
the mining region), and I asked the superintendent how 
these children got along in his schools. And he said : — 

•* Oh, they're no good. They go a little while, and 
then they all drop out. You will notice that you hardly 
saw an Italian child over twelve years of age in all that 
we have met. We can't hold them, to amount to any- 
thing." 

And I said : " Why not ? What's the reason that 
they don't stay with you ? Do they drop out of their 
own accord, or do you djrop them out .'' " 

To which he replied: "Oh, they can't do the work. 
They haven't any head for what we want, not one in a 
hundred of them." 

"What haven't they got a head for.?" I asked. 

" They all fail in arithmetic ! " he replied. " We 
simply can't get them to do enough number work to 
keep them in their grades. They almost always fail in 
their arithmetic examinations, and so can't go on with 
their regular grade work ; so they stay in the same 
grade till they get tired of it, and we get tired of them, 
and then they drop out." 

It was an honest answer. But — 

"How are they in their language work .? " I asked. 



192 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

" Wonderful ! " he replied. 

And then he went on to tell about a couple of boys, 
whose parents had recently come to this country with 
them, and who had placed them in school but a few 
weeks before. The boys knew not a word of English 
when they entered the school; and yet, he said, in an 
incredibly short time they had learned to read, and also 
to write beautifully. 

" It is really wonderful," he added, " how quickly the 
little rascals will pick up our language, not only these 
two, but the whole lot of them. But in mathematics 
they are good for nothing. These two boys I have 
spoken of will go for a while, but arithmetic will knock 
them out before long, as it does all the rest of them. 
They are almost all of them happy just so long as they 
can read a book or make pictures, or do anything in the 
line of drawing ; but we simply can't get them interested 
in arithmetic enough to hold them in school." 

Now this seems to me a great pity, that these children 
should be put beyond the sphere of influence of public 
schools just because they are naturally non-mathematical. 
For, good sooth, what is mathematics that it should be 
made the sine qua non of good citizenship ? And good 
citizens is what we want to make out of these same 
Italian children — good American citizens. That is 
what the public schools are for, above everything else, — 
to make good citizens, whether they are good mathe- 
maticians or not. And one can be a good citizen, even 
if he be a poor mathematician ! 

But if we fail to take care of these same children; if 
we drop them out of the schools before we have done 
much of anything for them, simply because they are 
unable to pursue successfully a study which the colleges 



EDUCATIONAL VALUES 193 

demand for admission to their doors — if we do this, how- 
can we much longer ask all the people to pay for the 
support of these same schools ? That is a question that 
must keep us watchful, and that will be asked in dead 
earnest, too, in the not very distant future. 

And there are many other similar situations, all 
through our schools. Negro children, are, as a rule, 
deficient in mathematical and logical ability. Boys, 
take them as they run, are short on the side of technical 
grammar and rhetoric. What thousands of them have 
fallen by the way for this cause ! You know them, 
don't you ? They should not have been forced out, or 
lost out, of our schools for so slight a cause. When it 
had been proved that they could not attain to the college- 
made requirements of the school course, then a just and 
a common-sense-made course, one that would meet their 
needs and abilities, should have been made; one that 
they could attain to, and so could have stayed in school. 
That is what the schools are for, to keep children under 
their training influences, and not to turn them out be- 
cause they fail to come up to a standard that an outsider 
has fixed — one that really has no more right to direct 
the school affairs of this nation than any other private 
institution has. There should be no such thing as graft 
in our schools, and the colleges of this country should 
receive no more favors from them than do the black- 
smith shops or the farms. 

The records of high schools show that a very 'large 
proportion, sometimes as high as fifty per cent of the 
pupils who enter them, drop out at the end of the first 
year. And a further study will reveal the fact that 
at least eight out of ten of the pupils that have thus 
dropped out have "failed to pass" in Latin or algebra, 
o 



194 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

or both, as I have before stated. These are notorious 
facts, which are known to every high school teacher. 
It is getting to be time for the people to realize them, 
and to have something done for them, too. 

And let me say again that, in calling attention to these 
facts, I am not ** attacking the colleges," nor am I saying 
one word against their work, as such. I am only mak- 
ing the point that our colleges and universities are only 
some among many educational forces in this broad land 
of ours, and that the particular studies which they insist 
upon as being of educational value are only a few among 
many means for developing the human mind, for form- 
ing sterUng individual character, for making first-class 
American citizens. 

These institutions all have their distinctive educational 
work to do, and for the most part, they are doing it well, 
better now than ever before ; and they will continue to 
do it better yet, as the years go by. But they are not 
all there is in the educational world, and they must not 
be permitted to dictate to our public schools, nor in any 
way to hold them in such subjection that these schools 
shall fail, in large measure, to meet the requirements 
of practically all the children whose needs they were 
brought into being to satisfy. They must be permitted 
to have their share of the work done in these schools. 
But they must not ask for all, or for an unfair percent- 
age of influence or advantage, in the work done in pubHc 
schools at public expense. 

Neither must they claim that the special studies they 
insist on are alone of educational value, and that all 
others are of secondary, or slight importance. Gradu- 
ally these institutions are coming to recognize, in their 
own curricula, the fact that any study is of educational 



EDUCATIONAL VALUES 



195 



value that the student genuinely loves, that he vibrates 
in harmony with, that he pursues with zeal and with 
personal interest; and that any study which is under- 
taken, or labored with, in any other way than this, is 
not truly educative, but a bore and cheat. Seeing 
this, our leading colleges are now nearly all conducted 
upon a system which grants all the points I am con- 
tending for. All else that can be asked is, that this 
method, which has been found of such advantage to 
the colleges and universities, should be passed on down 
the line, and so be made available for our public schools, 
from top to bottom. With this point gained, we can 
then, in each and every case, give to each and every 
child the privilege of pursuing such studies as experi- 
ence proves are of educational value for that particular 
pupil. And that is all that any one can ask. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

CONCERNING COURSES OF STUDY, DIPLOMAS, ETC. 

No Fixed Course of Study suited to all Children — The " Elective " 
Principle considered — Natural Aptitude of each Child determines 
what Studies Each should Pursue — " Passionless Intelligence " 
and " Passionless Purpose " — Getting together of Teachers, 
Pupils, and Parents — Standards of Scholarship — Past Records 
regarding Diplomas — Diplomas alike and not alike Compared 

— Method of Illinois State University cited — The Nonuniform 
"Credit" Diploma — Galesburg, 111., High Schools, and this 
Plan — Testimony of Teachers who have tried this Method — 
The Practice to descend down through the Grades — Ranking 
Place thus made for Industrial Studies — Definition of Individual 
Character — Different Methods of Education brought to this Test 

— Type Writer as a Moral Factor — Home the most Sacred Spot 
on Earth — The Right to Tax all the People for Educational 
Work. 

Shall, then, our public schools have no courses of 
study ? I am asked. And I hasten to reply : No fixed 
and uniform courses, the same for all the children of all 
the people; no course which is "that or nothing" for 
every child — nothing like that. Surely not. We shall 
simply carry out, in all departments of these schools, 
the principle of "electives," now so thoroughly estab- 
lished in the leading colleges and universities of this 
country. 

Then, instead of sticking to the idea that the children 
are made for the schools, we shall stand on the just and 
rational basis that the schools are made for the children. 

Then, in determining what studies . each several child 

196 



CONCERNING COURSES OF STUDY 197 

shall pursue, in making up a course of study for each, 
we shall be guided by the natural aptitude and abilities 
of that child, by the way he is, and not by the demands 
of any institution, or set of institutions, or of men — 
parties who have never seen the child in question, and 
so know nothing of what he really needs to make the 
most of himself. 

Then the first question in considering the educational 
work for any particular child will always be : How can 
we make a good citizen out of this child, an individual 
who will be a help to the state and society, and not a 
burden upon both ; how can we bring each child to the 
best there is in himself, and make the most of him, his 
natural abilities and possibilities being what they are ? 

Then, we shall not be anxious to graduate a child in 
any set way, or to have him tally as any and all others 
have done. We shall not care whether he is fitted for 
college or not. We shall only be anxious that he is 
fitted for the life he is to live. 

Then, we shall not be satisfied if we.succeed in getting 
a few children in a hundred to stay in school until grad- 
uation day, but our ambition will be so to fashion the 
work of these schools that substantially all the children 
who enter them shall graduate from them, death being 
the only cause for failure to come through. 

A little while ago a professor in a leading university 
in this country declared that " the end to be attained by 
educating children is to produce human beings who are 
willing to undertake the passionless pursuit of passion- 
less intelligence." I do not object to such human 
beings. If that is the way they are, all right. Let our 
public schools do all in their power to help even such 
individuals to the attainments of their passionless pur- 



1 98 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

pose. But do not permit these, and the likes of these, 
to make out courses of study for all the children of all 
the people. Because these latter are not passionless. 
On the contrary, the great bulk of all the children love 
things, and they love them hard. That is the way they 
are — the way God made them. And in making out 
courses of study for all these children, the school to 
come will take these things into account. 

As I have said before, this does not mean that each 
child shall be left to go his own gait, regardless ; but it 
does mean that the school superintendent, the principal, 
the child's teacher, the child's parents, and the child 
himself — that all these together can find out, and do, 
what is best for the child, can make a course of study 
suited to his needs, from entering day to graduating 
day. They cannot do all this at a single sitting, and 
all on the day the child enters school for the first time ; 
but through the years, as the work goes on, by all 
working together, they can attain to a successful result, 
in the great majority of cases. 

" But, " some one says, " what about standards of 
scholarship ? How can we ever tell of the attainments 
of any individual ? If we cannot know that he has 
pursued a certain formulated course of study in his 
educational work, how can we ever tell of the rank he 
ought to hold in the educational world ? Are degrees 
and titles to count for nothing ? " and so forth, and so on. 

To which I reply : The matter of educational rank 
which is determined by titles and diplomas is fast 
sinking into " innocuous desuetude " ; that is, in the 
great world of the common people. Among certain 
classes, these things still are reckoned as of great worth ; 
but not so among the masses. For the most part, the 



CONCERNING COURSES OF STUDY 1 99 

one question now asked of any claimant for honors in 
any department of life or place is, *' What can you do ? " 
not, " What credentials have you on file ? " Of course, 
credentials are of value, if they can be backed up by 
deeds that tally with what they stand for ; but in the 
great world of to-day, the man who " holds down his 
job," as the people say, does so by deeds, and not by 
diplomas. 

This was not always so. In the institutions that our 
schools have grown out of, it used to be very different, 
and it is now in some cases. In such times and places, 
if a man duly graduated and secured his credentials, he 
was awarded '*a living"; and this he was sure of, so 
long as life lasted. Now, in the great world at large, it 
is a minor matter what credentials a man presents, so 
far as permanency of place is concerned. Such evi- 
dence will, in a measure, help to secure a place, but, 
once in, the incumbent must be able to "deliver the 
goods," or his tenure is brief — very brief. 

Besides this, it does not now mean what it once meant 
to say that a man has graduated from college — any col-, 
lege. A few years ago, all college diplomas were sub- 
stantially alike. Now, no one can tell what particular 
thing or things any holder of a college diploma has 
studied. The Illinois State University can give its 
students any one of five hundred different diplomas. 
That is fine ! It is as it should be. When our public 
schools do the same thing, they will also be doing what 
they should. 

And yet, this same university began on the single- 
kind-of-diploma idea, or very near it. So long as it 
clung to this method, its students were few and far be- 
tween. Since it has changed its policy, the institution 



200 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

is full to overflowing. It will be so with all the depart- 
ments of our public schools when they pursue a similar 
policy. 

And this is already being done, to a degree, in our 
best public schools. None of them has as yet reached 
the limit of possibilities in the premises, but many of 
them have made a start, a good start, in the right direc- 
tion. Some have failed in what they hoped for, but 
such failures have been largely their own fault. They 
have still stuck to the course — some fixed course — 
idea. They have tried to give their students a choice of 
several fixed and unvarying courses, rather than a truly 
elective course, suited to individual needs. If a student 
took any " course," he must take all of that course. 
This is better than one single course for all, but it is 
not good enough. But good enough will come later on. 

The plan, or method, that seems to be the best is to 
determine a minimum of attainment that must be reached 
by a pupil before a diploma can be secured. That is, a 
pupil must receive a certain number of credits for work 
done, before he or she can graduate. In such scale of 
credits, each particular study that it is possible to pursue 
in the school is given a certain credit value, and the sum 
of all these credits secured by the pupil must reach a 
certain amount before any diploma will be issued to that 
pupil. Thus, suppose the total credits required for 
graduation be one hundred. In order to secure this 
number, successful work in Latin may count for so 
much, algebra for so much, bookkeeping for so much, 
manual training for so much, etc. Each study success- 
fully pursued has a given credit value, and when the 
total credits amount to, say one hundred, or some other 
fixed number, then a diploma will be issued. The face 



CONCERNING COURSES OF STUDY 20I 

of the diploma shows just what studies the holder has 
pursued, and how successfully he has done the work un- 
dertaken. 

If these studies are such as are required for entrance 
to college, well and good. Such diploma is a ** sesame 
open" to any college of which the school issuing the 
diploma is accredited. But if a diploma is not of this 
sort, it is still an honor to the holder ; for it shows that 
he or she has stayed in the school and has done success- 
ful work therein, and that is all that any or all can, or 
should, require. 

By such a plan each child can get what he needs out 
of our public schools, and no harm or hindrance will be 
done to any. Things being as they are, for some years 
yet the pupils who have college-entrance diplomas will 
be counted of somewhat higher rank, of somewhat better 
blood ; but the plan will wear this feeUng away, and in 
due time the honor will be assigned, not so much for 
holding this or that sort of diploma, as for what that 
document shows as to how well the work that it stands 
for has been done, whatever its kind may be. 

Nor does this mean chaos in our public schools. It 
does not mean that the pupil can study Latin a few 
weeks, then drop it and take up something in its place, 
and then get credited for so many weeks' Latin. Each 
pupil will be credited for work, in each several study, 
only when that study has been pursued successfully for 
the time needed for its mastery to the degree required 
by the school. In this way each pupil can come to his 
own, do the work which he and his advisers find to be 
best suited to his needs, and so the best results can be 
secured for all parties concerned. Some day our schools 
will come to this, or something like it. 



202 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

This system has been pursued by the Galesburg, 
Illinois, high school for some years, and with the most 
remarkable success. Before adopting this plan, its grad- 
uates rarely exceeded forty per year. At the end of six 
years' use of the system, it graduated a class of one 
hundred and twenty-four for that year; and it prom- 
ises to exceed that number each coming year, as time 
goes on. During this time, the attendance at the high 
school has increased two hundred and forty per cent, 
while the schools of the city as a whole have grown only 
forty per cent and the population of the city only twenty 
per cent. Each year more "classical" diplomas (college 
entrance diplomas) have been issued than ever before; 
and, in addition, twice as many "elective" diplomas 
have been issued to pupils who would have dropped 
out of school, or never entered the high school at all, 
had it not been for the adaptation of the course of 
study to their individual needs. For the latest report 
from this school see figures already quoted in Chap- 
ter XV. 

The teachers in this school report that they have 
very little or no trouble about pupils being fickle in their 
choice of studies — wanting to try first one and then 
another. In the choice of studies, these pupils are by 
no means left to act alone, as I have before suggested 
they should not be, but the greatest care is taken to aid 
them to choose wisely and well. The aim is, especially 
in peculiar and unusual cases, to have such choice of 
studies made upon the joint counsel of superintendent, 
principal, teacher, parents, and pupil. Of course, this 
means work, but it is work that counts, that saves the 
boys and girls, keeps them in school when they ought 
to be kept in school, and makes them proud and happy 



CONCERNING COURSES OF STUDY 203 

over their success in doing well what they are severally 
capable of doing. 

After several years' trial of this plan, all parties con- 
cerned are enthusiastic regarding it, and the record the 
school has made is proof positive of the merits of this 
method. What has been done in this case is only the 
advance guard of what will be done by all of our schools 
some day. It is a practical demonstration of what can be 
done, in the right direction, by proper methods ; and 
as the first telephone meant millions like it (and better 
as time went on) to follow it, so this school means mil- 
lions like it (and better, on similar lines) as the years 
pass by. Indeed, there are already a goodly number of 
schools trying this plan, with the best of results. 

And it is only a matter of time till the methods now 
used in this high school will descend through the grades, 
even to the lowest, in all our pubHc schools. The 
principle is right, and time will bring its successful 
establishment. Under its benign workings, if a pupil 
fails or is " short " in some one or more studies in a 
grade, he will not be compelled to take all the studies 
in that grade over again till he is able to **pass " on the 
one on which he is weak. 

I know that sentence will make many of my readers, 
especially if they are teachers and believe in " the sys- 
tem," wag their heads, and say, " How are you going to 
do it t " And they may justly add, " How, when we have 
such roomfuls of pupils to look after now, twice as 
many as we can take care of as they ought to be taken 
care oiV I admit the pertinency of such questions, 
especially the last one. Nevertheless, the thing can be 
done, and it will be done, one day, for it is right. And 
the right will some day be done everywhere. To help 



204 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

bring that condition about is all that makes life worth 
living. 

This way of working in our public schools will not be 
effected in a day, or a year, or in several years. It 
must be slowly evolved. Public opinion must be 
aroused in its favor, and detailed methods developed for 
its establishment. But slowly and surely it will come, 
for only by such means can we educate all the children 
of all the people. 

Of course this means a greater range of work than 
most of our public schools now undertake, but all this 
can be provided for as the needs become manifest. It 
will undoubtedly increase the expense of these schools 
somewhat, but this need not give us anxiety. Only 
prove that these schools do the best possible thing for 
all the children of all the people, and these same people 
will see to it that the financial needs of these schools 
are provided for, to the uttermost limit. There need 
be no worry on that score. 

Now the chief changes that will be made in the work 
done in these schools, when pursued on a basis similar 
to the Galesburg plan, will be along industrial lines, in 
the introduction into them of manual training and do- 
mestic economy, not only in the high school, but in dif- 
ferent forms, in all the grades, from top to bottom. This 
will come, not as a fad, but as a necessity for doing the 
best we can for a very large percentage of the pupils 
that, as God has made our children (the way they are), 
can only be reached successfully by such means. 

And this is not saying that the larger number of our 
children are low down in the scale of life or that they 
are far back in the procession. It is only taking them 
into account as they are, and acting accordingly. 



I 



CONCERNING COURSES OF STUDY 205 

And, after all, what are our schools for but to estab- 
lish character in our children ? What is the purpose of 
education, unless it be the formation of character in the 
individual ? And when can an individual be said to be 
possessed of a character that is worthy of the name ? 

That individual has character whose first desire in life, 
when he has anything to do, is first to find out the 
eternal and unvarying laws that make for the right doing 
of the deed he is called on to perform, and then, having 
found out these laws, to the best of his ability, whose 
single purpose it is to make his every act involved in the 
doing of the required deed tally with them. Such a 
man, such a woman, and such only, has character that 
is worthy of the name. 

Now bring manual training and domestic economy, 
as means of character building (which is only another 
word for true educational value) to this test and see how 
they compare with other things that have for so long 
been counted as their superiors. What the candidate 
for character has first to learn, learn so well that the 
lesson can never be forgotten and surely will not be 
forgotten in a few years after he leaves school, is the fact 
that God's laws never apologize, and that every man's 
work shall be tried, of what sort it is, and that only such 
work as is done in accordance with these laws will stand. 
Experience is the only teacher which can impress this 
lesson upon the pupil so that it will stay. That may 
seem a hard saying, but we all know it is true. 

If you give a boy two boards that are to be matched 
together along the edges, so that they will make a perfect 
joint, and set him to work to bring about such a result, 
you have put such pupil " up against it " in a way that 
he cannot dodge. If he cuts too deep here, or leaves 



2o6 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

a bulge there, a crack will appear when he puts the two 
irregular edges together, and no mercy will be shown. 
No matter how his teacher may mark him, the falsehood 
of his work stands out against him in a way that cannot 
be hidden. So he learns the lesson of absolute compli- 
ance with God's laws in relation to perfectly matched 
boards. He learns it by means of something that comes 
within the range of his comprehension, that he can 
understand, and thoroughly feel the force of. 

Or, give a girl a seam to sew, or a loaf to make and 
bake, and the same thing is true. She learns by 
practical experience that only by compHance with 
unvarying law can she obtain results that are really 
worthy. Her work is within the limit of her ability 
and her comprehension, and so is of value to her. And 
so such work tends to build up a regard for truth in the 
child; and, in time, an honest belief in it, faith in it, 
love for it, in no uncertain way. 

A principal of a large high school once told me that 
the typewriter was one of the greatest moral forces he 
had in his school. He said he had put boys and girls at 
work upon it who could not and would not spell well 
when they wrote with a pen or pencil. But when these 
same pupils were placed where their spelling sins stared 
them in the face, as they did from a typewritten page, 
that was too much for them, and they would mend their 
ways. There is great wisdom in this record of facts. 

But now give the everyday boy or girl a Latin sen- 
tence to translate, or a lesson in history or geography 
to memorize merely, and see how these compare, as 
character builders, /<?r such children, with the work just 
noted. Mind, I am speaking of the "everyday boy or 
girl." I readily admit that for those pupils who love to 



CONCERNING COURSES OF STUDY 207 

translate Latin there is, in the exercise, that which tends 
to the formation of character in them. If they are born 
to function in that mental plane, well and good. But 
most boys and girls are not so born ; and to make them 
go through the motions, with these studies to which they 
do not respond, does not tend to establish character in 
them. 

There are millions of boys and girls in this country 
who can and will vibrate and respond to industrial train- 
ing, in a way that will establish character in them of no 
uncertain sort, boys and girls who cannot and will not 
vibrate and respond to bookwork, to amount to much. 
Such method of training will keep them in school at a 
time of life when they need to be in school, and when 
they could not be kept, are not kept, by a regular clas- 
sical-college-fashioned school course. 

It should go without saying that this industrial work 
is not suited to the needs of all children, any more than 
classical work is suited to the needs of all children. 
There are a goodly number of children who never ought 
to take such work, to any considerable extent. If they 
do not function in that plane, and do function in some 
other, well and good. Let them hum where they can, 
where God made them to respond, and so shall it be 
well with them. 

It would be as much a sin to try to make all the 
children match boards, or bake bread, as it has been to 
try to make them all take a classical course of study. 
Each in his own way, so long as that way interferes 
with no other, does no harm or wrong, is the law ; and 
the law should have freedom to run and be glorified for 
each particular child. 

And, after all, what more excellent work can our 



2o8 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

schools engage in than fitting our boys and girls to do 
the things that pertain to practical life — things that 
will be of service to them in their homes and tend to 
make these homes fit places for first class American citi- 
zens to live in ? What better can our public schools do 
for our children than to fit them to become worthy in- 
mates of divinely managed homes — homes that are 
ordered in accordance with God's laws, and so are bits 
of heaven on earth ? Such results will answer the prayer 
" Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This is 
work that is worthy the backing of the state, the earnest 
support of every citizen. To produce such results, it is 
right to tax all the people ; and if they are forthcoming, 
the money to pay for them will be furnished without 
grumbling. But not otherwise. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

SOME OTHER CHANGES 

Probable Slow Growth of Proposed Changes — Memory Work to be 
made Less Prominent — Memory a most Treacherous Faculty — 
Little relied on in the Business World — "The Memories" — 
Specializing Abilities — Professor Olmstead — Author^s Experi- 
ence— -Memory Extortion — <• Shall I Pass ?" — Colleges respon- 
sible for this Condition. 

The establishment of this new order of things in our 
schools must of necessity be a matter of slow growth. 
There is so much to be done, our present methods are 
so firmly seated in their places, and the way before us is 
all so new and untried, that progress can only be made 
by degrees. There will be many mistakes, plenty of 
discouragements, and numberless I-told-you-so's. But, 
in spite of all these, we shall get on. **The goal is 
named, and it cannot be countermanded." 

Perhaps one of the first changes in method that we 
shall attempt will be in the matter of memory work, 
which now so largely obtains in our schools. Now, for 
the most part, we try to have our pupils memorize what is 
set down in books. The change will be in that we shall, 
instead, teach them how to use books. If we can do 
that successfully, we shall have put them into the Hne of 
becoming educated men and women, so far as book 
knowledge is concerned. And that is enough, on that 
side. 

The fact is, the thoughtful people of the world are 
now coming to see that memory is not the regal trait in 
p 209 



2IO ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

one's intellectual outfit that it was once supposed to be. 
On the contrary, we are coming to understand that it is the 
most treacherous and tricky, not to say dangerous, of all 
the mental activities. Practically no one to-day, who has 
regard for things strictly as they are, places any absolute 
reliance whatever upon memory as a tally sheet. The 
banker, the merchant, the physician, the scientist, the 
mechanic, the railroader, all men and women who have 
to deal with what we call practical things — none of 
these rely upon memory for their data. They have 
learned by experience, often of the bitterest kind, how 
utterly unreliable memory is. So they have ceased to 
count it as anything more than a sort of temporary asset 
in their mental furnishing. 

This is not saying that memory, in its proper sphere 
and function, has ceased to be of value ; — it has its 
place in our mental furnishing, and always will have. — 
But it does mean, first, that memory training, as it was 
once exploited, as a means of educational growth and 
development, is not the potent factor for that end that 
it was once counted to be. It means that merely teach- 
ing a child to repeat what is set down in a book has in 
it very little that is of real educative value. It means 
that there is now very little necessity for such work, and 
that the only reason for its still remaining in our schools, 
as in large measure it does, is the fact that it has always 
been there. 

Besides all this, the most recent, thoroughly scientific, 
and entirely reliable investigations of modern psycholo- 
gists have revealed the fact that there is no such thing 
as "the memory," as it was formerly considered. In- 
stead of this, these men have shown that in each human 
mind there are " the memories," a whole lot of them, 



SOME OTHER CHANGES 211 

and all so different ! And this discovery will, in due 
time, change the whole matter of memory training, as it 
has been exploited for centuries. 

We all know, too, that this but recent announcement 
of what has always been a fact, tallies exactly with things 
as they are. Everyone's personal experience proves that 
this is true. Everybody has a good memory for some 
things, and a very poor one for some other things ! Isn't 
it so in your case } It is in mine, and in everyone else's 
that I know anything about. I have a splendid memory, 
along certain lines, as I have already said. But for some 
other things — I am glad I don't have to tell that side of 
the story ! 

Nor need I do so, because what is true of me is 
equally true of you, whoever you are, only in a differ- 
ent way. You can remember some things easily enough. 
Some you simply cannot forget, though you may ever 
so much wish that you could. Other things you cannot 
remember at all. And what is true of you and me is 
true of all the rest of our brothers and sisters, all over 
the world — is true of all the people; and of all the chil- 
dren of all the people. 

The best memory for places and for faces that I ever 
knew about was possessed by an idiot who could not be 
taught to count ten. Blind Tom had a phenomenal 
memory for music, and would duplicate a piano per- 
formance, half an hour long, upon a single hearing. 
Professor Olmstead carried a whole table of logarithms 
in his memory, and I once had a teacher in history who 
could give, from memory, almost any date to be found 
in a cyclopedia. He tried to make me do the same 
thing, and I ruined my health for life, trying to do 
what he did and wanted me to do also. He was a good 



212 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

man and I respected and loved him so much, and had so 
much faith in him, that I felt I was in duty bound to do 
as he asked me. 

He said I had a good memory, because I could repeat 
verses as I did. (I used to repeat poetry to him, and he 
liked to have me do so. He couldn't do that, but in 
those days he didn't count that as a significant factor 
in the matter of what I could remember, and what he 
could not.) So he set out to make me as proficient in 
the matter of remembering dates as he was. I broke 
my health at the task, and it was all so senseless, so 
utterly useless and entirely abominable, as I see it now. 

I have no ability at all for that sort of thing. I can- 
not vibrate in the least in that plane. I can't even re- 
member the birthdays of my brothers and sisters ; and, 
if my life were at stake, I could not, right here and now, 
by the aid of my memory alone, tell when Van Buren 
was President, or the year in which Edward VH was 
crowned king. And yet my teachers used to say that 
I had a good memory. 

You know just how it is, too, do you not } Well, then, 
since these things are so, let us act in accordance with 
things as they are, in the matter of memory, when we 
try to educate all the children of all the people. 

For, why should I bother my head about my brothers' 
and sisters* birthdays ? The family register keeps all 
that information, in reliable form. So, also, the ency- 
clopedia tells all about Mr. Van Buren and Edward VH. 
Had my history teacher taught me the true use of a 
cyclopedia, and spent the rest of the time in a history 
class in interesting me in men and deeds, and their rela- 
tion each to each, to the past and to what is to come, my 
history work in school would then have been of some 



SOME OTHER CHANGES 213 

value to me, and would not have ruined my health. 
As it was, I look back upon it now as a horrible experi- 
ence that I was once compelled to undergo, and my back 
aches, as I write, because of the physical and nervous 
breakdown that came to me as a result of the strain that 
I put myself to in trying to do this and similar (to me) 
useless work in school. 

Yet I had schoolmates who did this work and grew 
fat on it. They vibrated to that sort of thing. I did 
not. Why could not my teachers, who were good men 
and women, every one of them, in other ways, why 
couldn't they have seen that it was folly, yes, wicked, 
for them to try to make a date-holder out of my head, 
or to make me a master of languages ? I never had, or 
showed, the least ability in either of these directions ; 
and what once was, still is. Yet it was held that it 
would cultivate my memory to do such work, that it 
would discipline my mind and educate me, and so I 
undertook it. It was a failure, from start to finish. 
Worse than that, the work I tried to do was a sin 
against my being, and I shall suffer for that sin just as 
long as I live. My teachers did not mean it so, and I 
have heard them all tell how sin could be forgiven. 
I wish they could tell me how to get rid of the pain and 
weakness I now suffer from, and which the work they 
gave me was the cause of. 

I don't like to say these things, and my only reason 
for doing so is the hope that this true record may keep 
some teacher or teachers, or oarents, or pupils, from 
doing as I did in these respects. 

And so, in the order of things, the terrible burdens of 
memory work that we now put upon the pupils of our 
public schools will one day be relegated to the back- 



214 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

ground, where they really belong ; and in their stead 
will come teaching how to use books, and how to do 
things. Of course, if, now and then, a boy or girl 
delights in repeating what is set down in a book, in 
memorizing dates, and such like work, such should be 
permitted to do all this. But the larger part of our 
children will not go that way. Neither will they be 
dropped out of school, if they cannot, or do not, go that 
way. 

Will you who read these lines, be you teacher, parent, 
or pupil, think of how these things are with you ; and 
then will you try to do the best you can for your pupils, 
your children, or yourself, on these counts ? Be honest 
with yourselves right here. That's all I ask. 

Next, this change that will come in our schools along 
the line of memory work will naturally lead to the 
elimination of that black beast of every pupil's school 
life, examinations, as they for the most part now are, 
and as they have been conducted, time out of mind. 

For here, also, we are still held in bondage by what 
has come to us from the days when there were no such 
means for doing things as we now have. Examina- 
tions, as they are now almost universally conducted in 
our schools, are only the culminating climax of the 
memory training that is done in these schools. It is a 
memory extortion, pure and simple. It is supposed to 
be the final twist which will forever fix in the memory, 
as a whole, the items that have been put into it one at 
a time. Its mission is supposed to be that of a sort of 
solidifier, a forcing into one compact and nondestruc- 
tible lump what has previously been a floating mass 
of stuff. With this for a theory, the memory examina- 
tion screws are put on ; and oh, the agony which that 



SOME OTHER CHANGES 



215 



pressure inflicts upon those who fall under its relentless 
squeezing — that is, practically, upon all the pupils of 
the school ! Racks and thumbscrews of the olden 
time were never more cruel and tormenting. ** Shall 
I pass ? " " Did you pass ? " " I am afraid I shall not 
pass." ** I can't sleep a wink till I know whether I 
have passed or not ! " How many times have you 
heard these words ? How many times have you said 
them yourself, and experienced the anguish they ex- 
press ? And yet they are really needless, and wholly 
uncalled-for words, if only these things are done as they 
ought to be. 

Why should we longer put our children to these ter- 
rible strains, as we now do } I ask you why ? Will you 
stop and try to think out a good reason ? I have tried 
to think out a good reason, and I am unable to do so. 
But here is all the excuse I can find for this fearful 
abuse of what was once a good thing : 

The ultimate and only reason for this sort of thing 
is the demand of the colleges that we prepare pupils to 
undergo the entrance examinations which they set up 
for admission to their institutions. That is the whole, 
story in a nutshell, as every one who is familiar with 
the facts will readily admit. That is the final fact, and 
it is a fact that requires looking into. That shall be 
done in the following chapter. 



CHAPTER XXV 

EXAMINATIONS 

Fair Tests of Ability Just and Right — Laissez Faire Methods 
unworthy — Present Practices considered — How these became 
established — Some Details of Such Work — The Burden Un- 
bearable — A Fair Method proposed — Why not? — Personal 
Test for Each Reader — The Essence of any Mental Examination 
Test — Practices in Professions and Calhngs outside the School- 
room — Present Methods prove Nothing of Literary Ability or 
Mental Power — Autocyclopedias — China now and then — The 
Ultimatum. 

In taking up the subject to be considered in this chap- 
ter, let me say at the outset that no true, honest person 
will ever shrink from being brought to a fair test as to 
his ability to do well any work that he may wish to un- 
dertake. More than that (or rather, previous to that), it 
is only just, fair, and right that every person who seeks 
for place or position, or for opportunity to do work of 
any kind, should be submitted to a fair test of his abihty 
to "fill the bill," if I m.ay say it that way. 

I am no advocate for laissez faire methods, or for 
slipshod, happy-go-lucky ways of doing things, here or 
anywhere. I make no plea that the slouch, the ineffi- 
cient, and the ne'er-do-weels should not be tested as to 
their real worth. But I do plead for the millions of our 
children who now live in agony all the school years 
of their lives because of this dragon of antiquated ex- 
amination methods which are now so universally ramp- 
ant in our schools. I know that, in some of our best 

216 



I 



EXAMINATIONS 



217 



schools, this demon has been exorcised. But the list of 
such schools is small. We all know that fact. 

I am sure it will help to make clear what I wish to say, 
to review, somewhat in detail, the examination methods 
of the past, to see how they came into being, and what 
they have now become. 

Like most other present evils, the bad things about 
modern school examinations have all come out of that 
which was once good in its way, in its own day and 
place. Memory examination tests were once the only 
way of proving the status of pupils who wished to pur- 
sue further scholarly work. That was wholly the case 
in the days when there were no books, or very few to 
speak of. Among all ancient peoples, and in all such 
times, this method was the only one that could be used, 
and that was where the method was developed, and how 
it came into use. It was once right and just and wise — 
the best that could be done, then and there. 

Besides this, these tests were in harmony with the 
ways in which pupils in those times received all their 
instruction. They were taught by word of mouth, and 
by word of mouth they reproduced what they had been 
taught. 

As a matter of fact, it is doubtful if Socrates ever 
wrote a line, and the same can truthfully be said of 
Jesus. There is not, in all the world, to-day, a single 
stroke of pen, pencil, or stylus that either of these made 
with his own hand. Socrates talked to his pupils, and 
Jesus opened his mouth and taught the people, saying. 
There were few books then— surely none for all of the 
children of all the people. These, and other teachers 
of those times, taught without books, and only what 
they themselves knew at first hand. Furthermore, the 



2i8 ALL THE CHILDREN. OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

teachers of those days did not teach so very much — 
very little, surely, compared with what pupils are taught 
to-day. 

Then, in those early times, each teacher would teach 
the pupil only what he himself (the teacher) knew, and 
in some cases that was not very much. Indeed, if such 
process were in vogue now, the sufferings of our children 
would be greatly mitigated ! But, see ! No teacher is 
now confined in his teaching to what he himself knows ! 
He now has books without number, as his aiders and 
abettors, and he can assign pages and pages of them for 
pupils to memorize while he himself goes home, and 
perhaps to bed, and to sleep. 

And then, when recitation hour comes, the teacher 
can sit down with the open book before him, and, with 
finger on the text, can keep tab on the pupil ! Will you 
stop and think how such accrued advantage on one side 
of what was once a fair game has resulted to the dis- 
advantage of the other side ? The situation is the most 
monstrous, the most unjust and unfair method of work 
that exists, anywhere in the world to-day. 

This is no fable that I am rehearsing. I am not fight- 
ing a man of straw in what I am saying here. Every 
child, every parent, every teacher in this country knows 
the truth. The marvel is that we are all as patient as 
we are in the presence of this persistent evil, this relic 
of ancient days that still abides with us. 

Take a case in point. Suppose a boy in the old days 
(or new, for that matter) was learning a language by 
word-of-mouth method, getting his vocabulary from his 
teacher, and having the forms of words and their arrange- 
ment and relations all explained and illustrated, vocally, 
as the study progressed. Now, nothing could be fairer, 



EXAMINATIONS 



219 



under such circumstances, if a test of the pupil's pro- 
ficiency was to be made, than to subject him to a 
memory examination, to ask him to repeat words that 
he had learned, etc. — in a word, to see if he could talk 
as he had been taught to talk, as it would be fair to 
presume he should be able to talk, his instruction being 
what it had been. No one could object to such a test. 
It would be fair to all parties concerned, and it would 
prove what one would wish to find out. 

But now, compare this with the modern examinations 
of the pupils in our schools, and of candidates for teach- 
ing in our schools, since the advent of books. 

Take the same study I have considered above, the 
examination in some language which the pupil has 
been trying to learn with books as the chief means, 
which is the method still used in nearly all language 
study in our public schools. Just see the difference in 
the two cases, and how fearfully to the disadvantage 
of the pupil the present way is. By this method, the 
pupil gets his knowledge of words by the eye, from a 
dictionary of the language he ^s studying ; and at least 
fifty of these words are given hl.n in this way where 
one would be given if the teacher alone were the source 
of word supply. The dictionary is always at hand, 
when the pupil is studying his lesson, and so can be re- 
ferred to at will. Besides this, the grammar is always 
accessible, to explain new and unusual forms and phrases 
that appear in the text. That is, the lexicon and the gram- 
mar are the legitimate tools which the pupil can use to 
advantage in his work. He uses them, learns to depend 
on them, as he has a right to do, and in this way does 
more or less language work. 

But when examination day comes, every one of these 



220 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

rightful and useful helps in his work is taken away from 
hijn, and at arm's length of memory alone he is asked to 
translate, give forms of words, and account for construc- 
tions, without any assistance whatever from the tools that 
he ordinarily has been permitted to use. 

But, it is contended, this is seldom on new work. An 
examination is usually upon subject matter which the 
pupil has had. Granted. But it is getting to be about 
time for us to learn that the mind of a pupil is not like 
a private compartment in a safety deposit bank vault, 
which can be relied upon to hold securely whatever is 
once put into it. It is far more Hke a sponge which 
lies in the open air. It may be sopped till it drips ; but 
the wind passes over it, and what was in it is gone, till 
it is soon as dry as a dead leaf lying on a parched rock. 
Perhaps it is more like a sieve which will only hold 
stuff put into it that is larger than its meshes. 

In any event, the fact is thoroughly patent to any 
impartial observer that this way of testing a pupil's 
ability is wholly unfair and grossly stupid, and that it 
puts into the hands of a careless, or a cold-blooded 
teacher a means of torture which the Inquisition never 
surpassed. 

Just see what a boy or girl is supposed to have " on 
tap," in memory, ready to be drawn on at an instant's 
notice, in order that he or she may pass a college 
entrance examination. Take it in mathematics alone, 
and in the single study of geometry. It is perfectly 
safe to say that such pupil is liable to be called on to 
give, or to work with, any one, or half dozen, out of a 
hundred theorems. It is equally safe to say that not 
more than one such pupil in a hundred ever has any- 
thing more than a memory knowledge of geometry, at 



EXAMINATIONS 221 

the age of college entrance. The study is one that 
very few people vibrate to before they are thirty years 
of age, and not so very many even then. 

I once asked, in an audience of five hundred high 
school teachers and city superintendents, how many 
were able to go to the board and divide a line in 
extreme and mean ratio ; and there were less than a 
score who were able to do it, right then and there ! 
Upon bringing these to the test, I found that they were 
all teachers of geometry, who were fresh from the work ! 

And yet, every boy and girl who has to be brought to 
the test of a college entrance examination in geometry 
must be prepared, not only to divide a line in extreme 
and mean ratio, but to do more than a hundred equally 
difficult things, few of which those learned men and 
women who sat before me that morning could do, if 
they were called on as I called on them. 

And they were not incompetent men and women, 
these teachers who could not divide a line as asked, on 
the drop of the hat. On the contrary, they were among 
the ablest teachers in this or any other country, and 
there was not one amongst them all who could not 
divide a line as required, if they could have had their 
books a 

What a flood of light these last seven words throw 
upon the situation. 

And why should not these teachers be permitted to 
have their books to use in dividing a line, or in doing a 
thousand and one other things which they learned how 
to do with the aid of books, and which they can do 
easily enough if they are permitted to use those same 
books now, as they once used them } And why should 
these pupils of ours, month after month, and year after 



222 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

year, be compelled to pass examinations in books, with- 
out books ? Can any one tell ? The only reasons are 
that it has always been so ; that as the fathers did, so do 
we ; and that the colleges demand that these things 
continue to be done in this way. But it is an outrage, 
a shame and a disgrace, a sin of the most deadly sort 
against our pupils that these methods be longer re- 
tained. 

How much Latin or Greek can you read without lexi- 
con or grammar ? Be honest now ! How many people 
do you know who can read these languages to amount 
to much without these helps ? How many teachers of 
these languages do you know who do not have to pre- 
pare for the work of each such lesson in advance, by the 
use of lexicon or grammar .'' More than that, how many 
teachers do you know who, when they set themselves to 
mark up a set of examination papers, do not fortify 
themselves with lexicon and grammar, to prove whether 
the work is correct ? I have seen this done scores of 
times. So have you. I have done the thing myself. 
So have you. And we did no wrong in using these 
books, either. Our only wrong was in not permitting 
our pupils to do as we did. 

Shall we, then, abolish college entrance examinations 
and corresponding work in our public schools ? By no 
means. All that needs to be done is simply to abolish 
the antiquated and wholly useless method that is now in 
vogue, and, in its place, use a method that is rational, 
and in accordance with modern means and appliances. 
That is, since we live in an age of books, when every- 
body has them and can have them continually, when 
there is no need whatever of burdening the memory 
with data as there used to be — since all these things are 



EXAMINATIONS 



223 



SO, let us mend our examination ways and test our pupils 
as to how well they can use books, rather than how per- 
fectly (or imperfectly) they can repeat what is in them. 
That will remedy the whole difficulty, and will remove 
all the trouble on that score, and will lift a load from the 
backs of our pupils in comparison of which mountains 
are but pebbles. 

And what a change this will make in the bookwork 
of our schoolrooms. Think of geography, and history, 
and literature, when taught by this method. Who would 
not gladly undertake these studies, on such a basis as is 
here proposed } What boy or girl did we ever know 
who did not respond to the reading of history, or of 
geography, full of live data — stories of men, things, 
and places that had life in them, and that it was a 
delight to know about .'' See how we have all learned 
about the Philippines, and Russia, and Japan, in the last 
few years, from what we have read out of the news- 
papers and magazines ! We do not remember it all. 
Surely not. We could not pass a written examination 
upon it. But we remember all that is needful to be 
remembered, and what we forget we can "look up," and 
that is enough. 

Under this new order of things, we will educate all 
our pupils by methods that they will use when they come 
into the practical affairs of life. Then, if we wish to 
test a boy's proficiency in history, we will give him an 
historical subject to investigate, put the proper books 
into his hands, and see what comes of it. The same 
in Latin, or Greek, or philosophy, or mathematics. 
This is what the boy will come to in the work of life, 
and this work that we give him will be excellent practice 
for him while he is learning how to do things ; and all 



224 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

the children of all the people can learn to do things this 
way, each after his own plan. 

Is a lawyer asked to pass upon a case ? His ability 
to do this is by no means confined to his memory. He 
has his own library, and that of his fellows in his pro- 
fession, to refer to. The same is true of the physician, 
the preacher, the teacher, and of all book-professional 
men and women. It is equally true of the craftsman, 
and of all workers in whose callings the records to be 
found in books are of use. Likewise in all the business 
world, the use of books, their handling, consulting, and 
studying — these are all factors of chief importancec 
The banker relies on his books and not on his memory 
— that is, if he is a good banker. So does the merchant, 
and the manufacturer, and even the farmer is coming to 
work in the same way. 

So, what our children need, so far as books are con- 
cerned, is to be taught how to use them. This is 
especially true of all and everything on the side of lit- 
erature, and of literary culture and training. I saw a 
class in literature, so called, the other day, where the 
work consisted of the pupils' standing and telling, 
from memory, the names of authors, when they were 
born, where they were born, how long they lived, what 
books they wrote, when they died, where they died, and 
where they were buried. At the end of each month 
they are required to pass a written examination on what 
they have learned ! I have before me, as I write, a set 
of college entrance examinations for the year 19 lo, in 
which this sort of work in literature is called for, and 
required ! Indeed, a teacher who taught literature in 
the public schools by this method told me that she was 
compelled to do as she did in order to fit her pupils to 



EXAMINATIONS 225 

pass college entrance examinations. She said the col- 
leges with which their school was affiliated all required 
such work. And there you are again ! 

What can, or does, such study of literature amount to? 
Absolutely nothing. Yes, often worse than nothing. 
For the boredom of it, and the agony that it inflicts 
upon the pupil, create a hatred of literature that is often 
never overcome. Such a method is dead, and should 
be buried. It is a stench in the nostrils of any true 
lover of literature, or of any live teacher of the subject. 

Would I know the literary standing of an individual ? 
Let him bring to me any book he has read, I care not 
whether I have ever seen or heard of the book or of its 
author before, and read to me what he counts of most 
worth in the volume, and I can very soon judge of his 
literary accomplishments and standing. So can you. 
So can any one who is fair-minded, and open to evi- 
dence that is worth while. There need be no trouble 
in this sort of examination work. It can be well and 
faithfully done, with full justice to all parties concerned. 

And the best of it is that such a method will demon- 
strate what it is set to prove. It will also free our 
pupils from a slavery that has long held them in bond- 
age. Furthermore, it will entirely remove all tempta- 
tion to cheat in examination, a practice that has done 
more to undermine the morals of students, in recent 
years, than any other one source of evil that can be 
named or imagined. It will make study a delight, and 
the proof of one's attainments a test to be desired 
rather than a trial to be shunned. The time it will save 
our students and teachers will make room for the work 
that our schools must do, for manual training and 
domestic economy, for work in many practical things 



226 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

which the schools need, and which we now " have no 
time for " ; it will usher in a new day in our school 
world, one that will bring joy to the hearts of teachers, 
pupils, and parents, and positive profit to them all. 

Such methods of study and of examinations as I have 
outlined will accommodate themselves to the way we 
are, every one of us, and to the way everybody else is, 
and everything else is. And so we will be happy and 
get on. As heaven is to the other place, so will the con- 
ditions of our pupils then be to the fix they are now in. 

Time was when the word "scholar" meant a walking 
dictionary and an autocyclopedia, and all the methods 
and paraphernalia of the schools were brought into play 
to effect such a result. As language and the volume 
of things known were in those days, all these things 
might be packed into one head and the man be none 
the worse for it. But as things are now, an effort to 
produce such a result is fatal to the victims. There are 
too many words now, and knowledge has too vast a 
reach, to be compressed any longer into any one single 
head. Besides, what's the use .'' Dictionaries are so 
cheap. The millions can have cyclopedias now ; and 
things are so much easier to get at, so much more reli- 
able withal, so much more liable to keep in any climate, 
when preserved for use in this way. 

Even China has largely abandoned her memory-test 
examinations for political preferment, and the whole 
system has been abolished by imperial edict in Japan. 
These nations have used these methods for centuries in 
their educational work, but they have now come to see 
that, in the light of modern means and methods, they 
are of little or no account. So they have marked them 
off their educational maps. Wise people, they. 



EXAMINATIONS 227 

The simple truth is, that these memory-test examina- 
tion methods must be abolished in this country also — 
dropped, all along the Hne. They are now held in place 
in our public schools almost solely because the colleges 
require that they be kept there, and that is not a good 
and sufficient reason for their being longer endured. 

All that the colleges have right to ask of a candi- 
date for admission to their doors is that he prove that 
he is fitted and able to do the work that they require. 
This can be learned by an examination of how well the 
candidate can use books, and do things, far better than 
by how well he can merely repeat what is in books. 
And it will be that way, some day. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

SHOOTING TO HIT 

Purposeful vs. Purposeless Study — A "Pullman" Story — The 
Tragedy of it all — Why the Aimless Methods are bad in a De- 
mocracy — The "All Around" Man Valueless in Modern Life — 
" One Bird at a Shot " — LowelPs Definition of a University. 

Another change that will come with this new order 
of things in our schools will be the practice, on the part 
of our pupils, of studying for some definite purpose in 
life, rather than merely " to get an education " and then 
*'wait for something to turn up." There is no one item 
in the educational work of the young people of to-day 
which leads to more disastrous results than the aimless 
methods of study which are now so generally practiced. 
The change that is needed will perhaps affect more 
largely the work done in our colleges and universities 
than in our public schools, but it will have to be largely 
introduced, even in the more elementary work of all our 
children. 

I have said that such aimless study, this idea of 
merely getting a good education, results badly; and I 
wish to emphasize that statement. That it is true, no 
one who is familiar with the facts will deny. That any- 
thing can be done about it, most people either doubt or 
refuse to consider. 

I have no word to say against scholastic work in our 
public schools, or in our colleges and universities, pro- 
vided such work be done with some definite end in view. 

228 



SHOOTING TO HIT 229 

But to pursue any course of study just for the sake of 
studying something, just to become "cultured," just to 
get a good education — this is as dangerous as it is 
foolish, unless one has money enough so that he can, 
for the most part, live without work. You may not have 
thought it that way, but if you will stop to consider 
the facts in the case, you will find them as I have just 
stated. 

I cannot illustrate the situation better than by giving 
a case that came under my observation a few months 
ago. A prominent merchant in this country told me 
the story as we were riding together in a Pullman, 
and I will repeat it as he gave it to me. We had been 
talking about this matter of aimless work in school, and 
he finally said: — 

" You are right, Mr. Smith. It is a sin before God 
for a boy to go through college without a definite pur- 
pose in life, a positive something which he aims to hit — 
either for him to do this for himself, or for his parents 
to permit him to do so. And I'll tell you how I know 
what I am talking about." He then went on, as follows : 

" I have two boys. The older one is now thirty-seven. 
He is married, has a good wife and four children that 
will average well with children as they go, which is as 
moderate a way of saying it as ought to be expected 
from a grandfather ! He is a recognized factor in our 
city affairs, has his place in our church ; and, not to 
boast, is a son that a father may well rejoice in, not to 
say be a bit proud of. He is really the head of our 
business house, though I am nominally to the fore. I 
have just been East buying goods, for I have some good 
stuff in me yet, if I am past seventy ; but if anything 
should happen to me, my son could carry on the busi- 



230 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

ness with perfect success. He knows the details of our 
trade from top to bottom, and is thoroughly master of 
the situation. We have no tremendous concern," he 
added modestly; "but we manage to turn over three or 
four million dollars a year, take it one year with another. 
I began the business in a small way as a young man, 
and it has grown to what it now is. 

" Now this older boy of mine never took to books 
much. But he was our firstborn, and his mother was 
very anxious that he should have a good education, 
one very much better than mine, for I never had an 
opportunity to go to school very much when I was 
young. So we kept the boy in school, one way or an- 
other, till he finished the high school course, in a way. 
It was a kind of a 'scratch,' but they finally let him 
graduate. Then his mother wanted him to go to col- 
lege. But the boy rebelled. He said he would be 
willing to do almost anything for his mother (he was 
a good boy), but that what she asked was too much. 
He said that he wanted to go into the store. 

" Well, his mother and I talked it over, and she cried 
about it some, but we finally concluded that we'd do as 
the boy wished ; and so he went into the store. I started 
him at three dollars a week. He was seventeen years 
old, and he had graduated from the high school ; but 
three dollars a week was all he could earn, to start on ; 
and in business it is what one can earn, and not what 
diploma he has, that counts. 

** That was twenty years ago, and during those years 
the boy has grown up through the business till he is 
now, practically, the head of the house. He is able to 
take care of himself and his family, he is a good citizen, 
and a respected and worthy part of the community he 



SHOOTING TO HIT 231 

lives in. That is, it seems to me he is a success, a man 
whose Ufe is really worth while." 

Here the narrator paused a minute, looked out of the 
car window thoughtfully for a brief space, and then 
went on : — 

" Now I have another boy, four years younger than the 
one I have just told you about. He is naturally just as 
good a boy as his brother, and is very much brighter in 
books. He always led his classes, and was greatly 
loved and admired by his teachers and his fellow students. 

" He graduated from the high school at seventeen ; 
and then, because he wanted to go to college, his mother 
and I were only too glad to have him do so. So we sent 
him to Yale for four years, where he made a record that 
was as good as he had made in school at home. He 
took a complete classical course, studied everything that 
a cultured gentleman ought to study, and came through 
just that, just a cultured gentleman. He didn't try to fit 
himself for anything in particular — just aimed to get a 
first-class education, as it is generally counted, and he 
got it. 

" When he got through at Yale, he wanted to do some ' 
post-graduate work across the water — nothing definite, 
but only in the line of general culture, which he was very 
fond of. We could afford to do this for him ; for, though 
I am not a rich man, yet I had enough to let the boy do 
as he liked about his education. So he spent two years in 
Germany and France, studying there ; and then, to give 
him all that could be had, I paid his expenses for two 
years of travel, during which he visited the principal 
countries and cities of the world. 

"And then he came home! He was a handsome 
fellow, twenty-five years old, cultured, refined, polished ; 



232 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

a gentleman and a scholar in the full sense of those words. 
He was a man of good habits, had kept himself clean and 
decent on the moral side of his life, in a word he was an 
' ideal gentleman.' 

*' That's what he was in the eyes of the world. But, 
as a matter of fact, he was as helpless a mortal, so far as 
earning a living (at least such a living as he had always 
had, such a one as I had given him, and as he was 
thoroughly used to) was concerned, as he was when he 
was a boy in knickerbockers ! He simply couldn't do 
anything ; and the worst of it was, he didn't want to do 
anything. That is, anything that meant work for pay. 
As a matter of fact, there was little or nothing that he 
could do, unless it was to teach ; and he couldn't earn 
money enough at that to keep him in neckties — not the 
kind of neckties he had been used to wearing. 

" And so the question finally came up what to do with 
him. We tried him in the store, but it was no good. 
He didn't know a thing about the business, and he was 
too old and too proud to learn. He couldn't start in on 
three dollars a week, and work his way up. He had 
got away past such a possibility; and yet, practically, 
that is about the only way a business like ours can be 
learned, so as to be a master of it. In our business 
(yes, in any business), the details have to be mastered, if 
its pursuit is made a success. And this he simply could 
not learn ; nor can any one do this, situated as he was, 
and that is the terribly hard thing about it. 

" You see, his habits of life were none of them based 
on business principles. He loved to sleep late in the 
morning, and he wanted to have my coachman bring 
him down to the store whenever he got ready to come. 
Sometimes he would get down by eight, and sometimes 



i 



SHOOTING TO HIT 



233 



not till eleven. We put him on the correspondence, but 
it was a failure. He could write an article for a maga- 
zine, or a thesis for a degree ; but he couldn't write a 
business letter, one that would be of value in our busi- 
ness. He hadn't the knowledge of details that was 
required for writing such a letter. We tried him as a 
salesman on the road, but he was a failure, every- 
where. 

** And as for entering a profession, — as the law, or 
medicine, or the pulpit, at his time of life, he had no more 
show there than he had in our business. He was be- 
hind in the procession in everything but being a cul- 
tured gentleman ; and there he was only fitted to be 
taken care of by somebody else, to have some one else 
pay the bills. There was nothing that he could do that 
would bring him twenty dollars a week. No one could 
afford to pay him even so much, for he couldn't earn it 
at anything that he could turn his hand to. 

" He is now thirty-three years old, right in the prime 
of his young manhood. He isn't married, and I doubt 
if he ever will be. I'd be glad to have him marry, and 
to settle enough on him to take care of him in a modest 
way. But he is too proud for that. And I couldn't give 
him an allowance which would meet the requirements 
of himself and such a woman as he would want to marry, 
if he married at all. 

" And so, Mr. Smith, there is only one word that will 
describe the condition of this son of mine, to-day, and 
that is the terrible word * failure ! ' That is the saddest 
word I know anything about, especially when it describes 
the condition of a capable young life." 

There were tears in the old man's eyes as he said 
this. And then we both looked out of the car window 



234 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

for a long time, and said nothing. But after awhile he 
went on : — 

*' And so I say that if I had a score of boys, I would 
never permit another one of them to get a purposeless 
education. This tragedy in our boy's life is the result 
of our own false notions. I don't know that we are to 
blame, or that he is to blame ; but we are all suffering 
from a great mistake, and what the end is to be, God 
only knows." 

Now this is no " made-up story," good people. It is 
" the real thing " ; and you know its duplicates, or per- 
haps scores of just such cases. And isn't it tragedy of 
the "most deepest dye".-* Such cases are seen every- 
where, and their number is on the increase daily. Fur- 
thermore, it is as true of young women as it is of young 
men. And the pathos of it is immeasurable ! 

Of course, it is easy to see that all this is but another 
relic of other days. These young people, who do as I 
have described, are only following in the ways of the 
sons and daughters of the nobility across the water, of 
young people who, according to the code, are born to 
be taken care of ; who never work, nor need to think 
of earning their own living. That is the way of mon- 
archy, and under such a regime it doubtless has its place. 
But the pity of such ways among the common people of 
a democracy — there are no words that can describe the 
wrong of such condition. And yet every boy and girl 
that our schools send out purposeless, they send out to 
the probability of such a fate as I have described. 
Every parent who permits a son or a daughter to lead 
such an aimless life in school work is laying up wrath 
against a day of doom. 

Now I do not think that every boy or girl can say, 



SHOOTING TO HIT 235 

for sure, what he or she should do for a Hving when 
they are grown up. Nor do I think that parents can 
settle this for them, with positive accuracy, every time; 
nor that teachers can determine the matter without mis- 
take. But I do believe that, in the cases of nearly all 
children, somewhere between the ages of fourteen and 
eighteen, these three parties together, the pupil, the 
parent, and the teacher — that this combination can 
settle, with reasonable definiteness, what work in hfe 
each pupil is best suited to perform. In many cases 
(I could almost say in most) this could be determined 
much earlier in the life of the child. Personally, I know 
scores of children who are not yet in their teens, who 
show such unmistakable signs of their bent of mind, 
their likes and dislikes, their longages and shortages, 
that it would be perfectly safe to predict what work in 
life they will best succeed in. And my experience is 
yours, I am sure. 

And then, having chosen the line of life work for a 
child, there can no longer be any doubt that the wise 
thing to do is to train him or her along that particular 
line, to the best advantage possible. 

And again I say, there is no need of fear that by 
doing this we shall make one-sided men and women. 
Or, if it be admitted that there is such a danger, is it 
not true that a one-sided man or woman is far preferable 
to one who has so many sides that none of them are of 
any account in making a living ? 

The fact is, the day of the all-round man has forever 
passed. In the days of my father, no further back than 
that, it was possible for one mind to compass a very large 
part of the full sum of knowledge that was then avail- 
able. But no one can do that now ; and the man who 



236 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

tries to do it, or the school that tries to have him do it, 
will end in failure. 

When I was a boy I went out hunting prairie 
chickens. There were thousands of them in the fields 
in those days. I was with an old hunter, and the first 
covey of birds that we flushed, I up with my gun, shut 
my eyes, and blazed away at the flock. And I never 
touched a feather ! After I had done that a few times, 
the old man said to me, *' That's no way to shoot 
chickens, my boy ! When the flock rises, I don't care if 
there's a million of 'em, just pick out one bird out of the 
lot, and bring your gun up till you can see that bird 
right over the top of your gun-barrel, and then shoot, 
and that bird is your meat ! " 

And it was so. 

Some day we shall train our boys and girls in our 
public schools, and in our colleges and universities, to 
shoot to hity leading them to see that even one bird at a 
time is a great deal better than simply a loud report 
with nothing but noise to show for it, while some one 
else pays the bills ! 

But we are more to be pitied than blamed for our 
wrong-goings in this matter. We have been so long 
drilled to think that such is the only and best way ; and 
it has for so long been counted as so ** respectable." 
As recent an authority as James Russell Lowell has 
said that " a university is a place where nothing useful 
should be taught." Lowell was a great man, in many 
ways, but he was " short " in his ideas as to the true 
purpose of educative work, for the people of a democ- 
racy who have to earn a living and hoe their own 
rows. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

JUST A LITTLE ABOUT TEACHERS 

Personal Relations of Teachers and Pupils — Palmer's " New Edu- 
cation" — Public Schools not Charitable Institutions — Poverty 
no Just Claim for Position of Teacher — Letter regarding " Young 
Graduates " and " Old Teachers " — Newness of Work required 
by Modern Educational Demands makes it difficult to get Effi- 
cient Teachers — Testimony of Superintendent on this Issue — 
Special Pedagogical Training, all along the Line, needful — How 
Engineers are made — Railroad and School Methods compared 

— Inefficiency of Mere Academic Culture for Technical School 
Room Work — Where, and by what Teachers, Poorest Pedagogi- 
cal Work is now done — Uniform State Examinations of Teachers 

— A Dehumanized Method — The Only Way to learn how to 
Teach — Normal Schools — Politics, Religion, and Teachers. 

The doing of such work as has been outhned in the 
previous chapter will necessitate the closest personal 
relations between pupils and teachers; during the whole 
of the child's school life. This is at variance with the 
ways of college and university life, especially in the 
larger institutions of this sort. In the smaller colleges 
things are better in this respect, and that is one item 
in favor of a small college. But in our public schools 
the principle of the personal interest of the teachers in 
all their pupils should extend to the farthest boundary. 
Only such teachers should be permitted in these 
schools as love the work, and also love the pupils they 
work for and with. It may be a long time till then, but 
our schools are young yet, and they are arriving. 

In that sterling book of his, " The New Education," 

237 



238 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

Professor A. M. Palmer, of Harvard, has told how 
things ought to be in this respect, and some day the 
ways he has outlined will be realized. 

To reach such an attainment, one of the first removes 
that must be made from current ways will be getting 
rid of the idea that our public schools are charitable 
institutions, and so that it is a part of their business to 
make places for teachers who "need the money." 
That these schools are such institutions is a deep-seated 
belief which is very largely held by the rank and file 
of our people at present, and hence it will be very slow 
in its abatement. None the less, it must pass with 
other inherited things that are no longer of use. 

That this idea is so prevalent is no wonder, for the 
public schools grew out of an order of things in which 
charity was the chief factor. But that condition no 
longer obtains. The simple truth is that, since the 
schools have become "common," since they are now a 
part of the state's way of doing the best it can to insure 
a constituency of good citizens ; since this is now the 
mission and status of the schools, they have become the 
most practical kind of a business proposition. Their 
business is to make good citizens, first-class members of 
the body politic, which is only another phrase for good 
men and women. And the making of good men and 
women out of children does not necessitate, as a factor, 
the taking care of a lot of men and women by paying 
them to do work which they are wholly unfit for, by 
employing as teachers those whose chief claim for the 
place is their poverty ! 

It may be necessary for the state to care for such 
poverty-stricken people, to feed and clothe them ; but 
it has no right to try to shirk such provision for want 



JUST A LITTLE ABOUT TEACHERS 239 

or misfortune by foisting these incompetents upon the 
pubHc schools in the guise of teachers, and so, not only- 
forcing people to support them in that way, but com- 
pelling the children to suffer from their inability. I 
would not be harsh in saying this, yet it is a word that 
needs to be said, and to be said out loud — very loud. 

Because it may seem to some of my readefs that I 
have overestimated the way people feel about our 
schools in the matter and the belief they have that they 
should be used for the benefit of those who *' need the 
money," I insert just here a letter that I took from a 
local newspaper of a moderate-sized city, a few days 
ago, as follows : — 

" I think it is about time the old teachers stepped out 
and gave the young graduates that are turned out of our 
high school every year a chance. I think it would be 
a good plan to change teachers, as well as school in- 
spectors, more often. Let them know there are other 
ladies that can teach those rooms, and some need the 
money and position worse than the present teachers in 
some cases I am sure." 

And say not in your hearts that the writer of this 
letter is a sinner above all others. I tell you nay, but 
the case is common, more's the pity. But it must pass 
with the rest of our bad inheritances, and it will do so 
in due time. Meanwhile, let's help it to go. 

Another change that presents exceeding difficulties is 
the training of teachers so that they shall be well fitted 
to do the new work that is required to be done in our 
public schools. This is especially the case in the man- 
ual training and domestic economy lines of school work. 
Here, the ways are all so new that trouble crops out 
and creeps in, in all attempts to do what is so needful 



240 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

to be done. What are the best things to be done in 
these two lines of school work, and how shall the work 
proposed be accomplished ? These and other equally 
important questions crowd to the front wherever such 
work has been attempted. 

It is only a short time since a superintendent of one 
of our leading cities said to me : *' I fear that our whole 
effort in manual training and domestic economy will fail, 
because I cannot get teachers who can do what it seems 
to me ought to be done." He went on to say further : 
*' I confess I don't know myself what ought to be done, 
either in courses of study or in carrying them out if once 
they are determined upon. I have never had any ex- 
perience in such lines of work, and so I know next to 
nothing about it. In our shop, I first got a man for a 
teacher who had had training in the theory of such 
work. He was a good man, viewed from that stand- 
point; but when he came to actually handling tools, to 
really doing the things he talked about, and tried to 
teach, here he fell down, miserably ! Then I got a prac- 
tical mechanic, and put him in charge. He could use 
tools, but he knew nothing of teaching, and the boys ran 
over him, and so his work was a failure." 

It was an honest confession, and it stated the situation 
as it is to-day, to a great extent, all over the country, so 
far as this kind of work in our schools is concerned. 
Nor will the situation get very much better right away. 
It is a long road we shall have to travel in this respect, 
but we shall cover the ground as the years go by. 

Some of our state universities and polytechnic 
schools are beginning to give special attention to the 
development of directive courses of study and practice 
in these fields, and to the training of men and women to 



JUST A LITTLE ABOUT TEACHERS 241 

teach the work which they outline. But better than this, 
in a good many ways, our pubUc schools will gradually 
work these problems out for themselves. Always, when 
the need comes, men and women appear who are equal 
to the doing of the task required. Gradually, teachers 
will arise who will point out the ways that can be trav- 
eled successfully. No one teacher will do all this, but 
here one, and there another, will discover and work out 
the things that ought to be done, to a degree, and then 
will reveal to others what they have found out, and so 
the work will proceed. Just here comes in the most 
excellent directive work that some manual training and 
domestic economy magazines are now giving to teachers 
and the public. 

But, more than all this, there is destined to be a great 
advance, in the not distant future, in the way we train 
our teachers to teach. The calling will become more 
and more a profession, which no one will be permitted to 
enter who has not received adequate training, and who 
has not had the experience that is essential to the suc- 
cessful doing of the work required. This principle 
obtains in almost every other trade or profession that 
can be named. The reason it is not insisted upon in the 
matter of teaching is that, as yet, the pedagogical side of 
the situation is but very poorly understood and compre- 
hended by the people as they go — by the patrons of the 
schools. Here is the crux of the whole situation, the 
lack of understanding on the part of the public in gen- 
eral, and of parents in particular, as to what real teach- 
ing is. 

Because people get killed on railroads through the 
incompetence of engineers, we insist that the men who 
handle locomotives shall have special training and 



242 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

experience before they are given charge of an engine on 
the road. And this must be genuine training and actual 
experience, too. It must be something more than going 
through the motions of engineering, of studying the 
theory of air brakes and time-tables. A man must serve 
a seven years' apprenticeship in doing the subordinate 
work that leads up to the place of engineer, before he is 
given entire control of an engine doing actual work on a 
road. 

Let me push this comparison a little farther. There 
are most excellent schools in this country for the train- 
ing of locomotive engineers. These schools have a 
most comprehensive curriculum, which includes four 
years of work in shops and on engines, and which is 
just as near the real thing as it is possible to attain to 
without the real thing itself. Such schools have loco- 
motives so mounted that they can go through all the 
motions of engines in actual use on the road. These 
locomotives can be made to run at any speed that is 
possible for any ordinary engine. They can be so 
manipulated that they will put forth the energy required 
to draw any kind of a train or any number of cars, such 
as they would ever be called on to handle in the regular 
work on the road. They are regularly equipped with 
air brakes, both for themselves and for the train they 
are supposed to be handhng. In a word, each such 
outfit is a perfect suppositional engine and train, and 
its handling is designed to include all the exigencies 
that would arise in actual railroading. 

The students have four years of training in the work 
of building engines, taking them apart and putting them 
together, repairing them, and running them under all 
sorts of supposed conditions. They learn all about air 



JUST A LITTLE ABOUT TEACHERS 243 

brakes, and all the paraphernalia of cars, both freight 
and passenger. They study all the theories regarding 
these things, and have the advantage of the best litera- 
ture and the ablest teachers that the world affords on all 
these lines. Four years of this work they have, and it 
is good, honest, substantial, and solid work, too. 

Now, would it not seem that young men, so trained, 
would be well fitted to go right to work and successfully 
handle a locomotive on a railroad ? Theoretically, it 
appears so, surely. And yet, note the facts in the case. 
Not one of the graduates from such a school, not from 
the best of them (and there are several most excellent 
schools of this kind in the country), not one graduate 
from the best of them all, not even the leader in his 
class, could get a position, even as engineer on a switch 
engine, on any standard railroad in the United States, 
or elsewhere, on the strength of his credentials and his 
diploma alone, or because of the work he had done in 
such schools. To the uninitiated, that may seem strange 
and perhaps hard ; but it is a fact that inquiry will read- 
ily verify. 

Now why is all this ? Simply because the managers' 
of railroads are practical, hard-headed business men, 
whom experience has taught that it is not safe to put 
men who are only theoretically trained into actual work. 
These merely school-bred men all lack the one thing 
needful, namely, actual experience with the real thing ; 
and this can only be obtained by contact with the real 
thing. That is the situation. 

How, then, do these graduates from locomotive en- 
gineering ever get into the places they have been edu- 
cated to fill } Are such schools a failure, and does the 
long, hard work done in them count for nothing } Here 



244 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

is the rest of the story : When these graduates leave 
school and seek places on the road, they are set to work 
at the foot of the ladder, and from there they are obliged 
to work their way up. They are given trial jobs of the 
simplest sorts, and thus they are tested to prove what 
manner of men they are. In a word, they are examined 
by actual tests, not by mere memory grinds, and are 
proved by what they can do, and not by what they can 
write on paper. 

Such graduates are put to work wiping the dirt and 
oil from engines in the roundhouse, to start on ! If they 
do this work well, and prove themselves masters of it, 
they are promoted to more difficult tasks, and so they 
mount the ladder of their chosen caUing. As a rule, it 
takes about three years for such a graduate to get an 
engine that he can have entire charge of, in actual 
service on the road. For the man who starts out to get 
such a place without this special school-training in a 
school for locomotive engineering, it takes seven years 
to secure such a position. And so the men are com- 
paratively even at the end of the first seven years. 
After that, I am told, the odds are largely in favor of 
the school-trained man ; though that is neither here nor 
there, so far as this discussion is concerned. I only 
mention it to show that this sort of school work does 
pay, and that it is for the best in the long run. 

But the point I want to make is this : That, whereas, 
after a man has had these four long years of very nearly 
practical work in training to be an engineer, and even 
then is not permitted to take charge of an engine until 
he has had three years more of actual experience on the 
road — whereas all this is so, yet, in school work, we 
will take a graduate from almost anywhere between a 



JUST A LITTLE ABOUT TEACHERS 245 

grammar school and a university course, and put him in 
full charge of a roomful of boys and girls, and expect 
him to do successful work as a teacher, even if he has 
never actually taught a single day ! Was ever anything 
more preposterously foolish or irrational, not to say 
positively insane ? 

Because, as a matter of fact, successfully running an 
engine is a simple attainment when compared with 
successfully teaching a school. This is not generally 
reckoned to be the case, but it is so, all the same. And 
the reason for this misunderstanding, on the part of the 
public in general, and of parents in particular, lies in 
the fact that teaching blunders are not as palpable as 
engineering mistakes and errors are. If an engineer 
is incompetent and fails to do his duty, tangible property 
is destroyed or lives are lost, and these are things that 
everybody can see and know about, and that everybody 
knows the value of. But if a teacher blunders, and as 
a result boys and girls drop out of school and so fail to 
get what they ought to have, for lack of which they will 
suffer all their lives — when this happens, it is a personal 
or private affair ; very few know anything about it, and. 
still fewer care anything about it, anyway, and so the 
matter passes unnoticed year after year. 

But, oh, the truth about these blunders of teachers 
who so wreck the children's lives, and who (more's the 
pity) have no idea of what ruin they are causing or 
permitting ! This part of the story is simply untellable. 
Yet, even here, no one is really to blame. We haven't, 
any of us, meant to be so bad, to really do wrong. But 
we have been bad, and we are doing wrong every time 
we permit a teacher to take a place in our schoolrooms 
merely on academic credentials. The ordinary test of 



246 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

teaching ability that is now made by mere written 
examinations of the candidates is practically of little or 
no value whatever in determining the real worth of 
the individual in actual schoolroom work. This is just 
as true of state examination tests as it is of county 
superintendents' tests, or of city superintendents' tests. 
The written vv^ork done by such candidates no more 
proves their ability to teach than merely written tests 
of an engineer would prove his ability to successfully 
handle an engine, in actual work on the road. Nay, it 
does not nearly as much demonstrate the thing which 
it is set to prove, in the first case, as it would in the 
last, because, successful teaching is as much more 
subtle and difficult a task than engineering, as the 
mind of a child is more complicated and difficult of 
handling than is a mass of iron and steel. 

And yet, as things are now, a diploma of almost any 
kind, surely one granted by a college or a normal school, 
is almost a sesame open to a position as teacher in our 
public schools. Such a document is, by itself, no positive 
evidence whatever of ability to teach children successfully. 
The knowledge that the diploma vouches for may be 
essential to successful schoolroom work, but the mere 
possession of this knowledge is no proof of ability to teach. 
Indeed, the poorest work I have ever seen done in our 
public schools has been at the hands of college graduates 
who were teaching in grammar grades, and who had no 
experience in teaching. I have seen work done by such 
as these that would break your heart ! 

There are thousands of schoolrooms in this country 
the work of which will prove the truth of the statement 
just made. The men and women in charge of very many 
of these schoolrooms are book educated and memory 



JUST A LITTLE ABOUT TEACHERS 247 

trained sufficiently for their places ; but they know very 
little or nothing about teaching. The thing they chiefly 
know how to do is to assign pages to be memorized, and 
to stand pupils up and see if they can repeat what they 
have been asked to learn ! Besides this, they must be 
able to ''keep order" and "not allow whispering," and 
to see to it that the pupils march out and in well. In 
how many of our public schools is this and the like of 
this called good teaching ? You answer. 

Bearing upon which, I have recently seen the practical 
work of an attempt that is now making, in some states, 
of having a State Board of Examination pass upon the 
qualifications of all the teachers of that state. These 
examiners issue questions for the examinations, and send 
them to the county superintendents, who submit them 
to the candidates for teaching. The candidates write 
answers to the questions submitted, and their papers are 
sent to the State Board, to " mark " and pass upon. No 
names are attached to the papers (they are only num- 
bered to identify them) and the examiners do not even 
know, when passing upon a given paper, whether it was 
written by a man or woman ! And from such absolutely 
dehumanized, impersonal data the examiners are supposed 
to be able to determine whether or not the candidates 
they pass upon are fitted to teach ! What railroad would 
remain solvent for one year if it examined its engineers 
in this way ? What does your common sense tell you 
about it ? 

Yet I would not too much blame this attempt at doing 
the right thing. For such an attempt it is. There were 
evils under the system which it was set to better; but 
they must have been very bad if this way will mend 
them. The primary factor in good teaching is the 



248 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

personality of the teacher, and this is left at the zero 
point by such a method of judging of pedagogic qualifi- 
cations. This system of state examinations, as I saw it 
exploited, was well and faithfully done by good men and 
women, but I cannot believe that any great good will 
ever come of it. 

The way to learn how to teach is to teach, as the way 
to learn how to run an engine is to run an engine. But 
neither can be done successfully out of hand, or without 
long practice under competent instruction. I would not 
want to say that no person should ever be permitted to 
teach who had not been especially trained for the pro- 
fession, any more than I would want to say that no per- 
son should ever be permitted to run an engine until he 
had had seven years of preliminary work. There are 
geniuses in all callings. I know good teachers who 
have had but very little training outside of their own 
experience. I know first-class engineers who have come 
to their own in the same way. But these are all excep- 
tions. They are not the kind to go by, for the rank and 
file of us. As a rule, it takes years of special training 
under first-class direction and instruction to make a good 
teacher, just as it takes similar experience and method 
to make a good engineer. 

Our normal schools and our pedagogical classes in 
colleges and universities have already done a great deal 
in the way of training teachers to teach ; but if the real 
truth be told, even these have as yet done but partially 
what needs to be done much more thoroughly. The 
reason for making this statement is the fact that Httle 
of their work is the real thing. Those who do it are 
doing suppositional work. Their work corresponds 
almost exactly with the training given to engineers by 



JUST A LITTLE ABOUT TEACHERS 249 

their training schools. And such graduates all need to 
serve a practical apprenticeship in actual schoolroom 
work done under competent supervision, before they 
are given full control of a roomful of children, or, 
especially, before they are put in command of a corps 
of teachers ! 

And yet, how common a thing it is for a man or 
woman who has never taught a day, to be given even 
the position of principal or superintendent of schools, 
solely because he or she has graduated from some scho- 
lastic institution ! A similar system pursued in railroad- 
ing would very shortly ruin any road that tried the 
experiment. That it has served our schools no worse is 
a proof of how much abuse a well-grounded institution 
can stand and not go to the wall. 

Some day we shall insist on practical experience in 
teaching on the part of every applicant for an independ- 
ent position in our schools ; and, further, we shall 
examine all candidates for such positions, not merely on 
their scholastic attainments, and that in an impersonal 
way, but by personal inspection, by competent judges, of 
the actual schoolroom work that the applicants can do. 
That will be an examination which worthy teachers will 
never think of shrinking from, but which, on the con- 
trary, they will be proud to undergo — as proud as a 
competent engineer always is to demonstrate to the 
superintendent how skillfully he can handle an engine. 
In those days, candidates for teacher's certificate, either 
county or state, will not wear their lives away memorizing 
cyclopedias, and in other ways making themselves ready 
to answer, on the instant, any one of a thousand and 
one questions that really have no relation whatever to 
teaching school. 



250 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

I would not be pessimistic or faultfinding for its 
own sake ; and every honest observer of our schools 
knows, from the observations I have made, that I am 
neither. As I have already intimated, the whole situa- 
tion is far more our misfortune than our fault, and now 
that we are coming to understand the real conditions in 
the premises, we are setting about making them what 
they should be. 

Of course, a successful settling of this difficulty means 
ever so many more things than I can discuss here. 
It takes in all the issues of permanency in the pro- 
fession, salaries, tenure of place, and scores of other 
things, none of which can be settled in a day, or in 
many days. But the fact that we are coming to com- 
prehend the truth that teaching is a profession as 
engineering is a calling ; that the mere possession of a 
memory-knowledge of what is in books is no criterion 
for successful training of boys and girls in a school- 
room ; that our schools are not for the support of 
teachers whose chief claim for place is the fact that 
they are without visible means of support; that no 
place in a schoolroom is to be used for payment of any 
political, or social, or denominational debt, — the fact 
that at least some people are coming to see these 
things as they are is a hopeful sign, and all the results 
towards which this sign points will come in due time. 

Meantime, let us all do what we can to secure as 
good results as we can, while we wait. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

THE PARENTAL FACTOR 

Difficulties of this Phase of the Problem — " Fixed Ideas " of Parents 
— Parental Plans for Career of Unborn Progeny — Heredity — 
Darwin, Burbank, Shaw — Persistence of an Exploded Theory — 
An Instance in point — Musical Father and his Daughter — The 
Artist in Color but not in Tone — God's Way and Man's Way — 
The "Conventional" and the "Rivalry" Factors — Unfairness 
and Wrong of Such Practices — Mrs. Grundy as a Trouble-maker 
just here — The Value of Struggle well understood and well 
directed — The Real Hero. 

There are two chief items in the count in consider- 
ing parents as they stand related to an educational 
problem that includes all the children of all the people. 
The first is the difficulty in getting parents to realize, or 
at least acknowledge, the way their children are ; and 
the second is the still greater task of inducing them to 
do what ought to be done under the circumstances. 

For instance, in the first place it is a matter of com- 
mon knowledge that almost all fathers and mothers 
have preconceived ideas as to what they wish their 
children to be when they are grown up. This is often 
not a general and indefinite affair, but is frequently very 
specific and direct. Not infrequently these ideas take 
positive shape before their child is born, and there is a 
very prevalent notion that such prenatal desires and 
purposes, on the part of parents, have a highly potent 
influence on determining the character and bent of mind 
of their children. There are mothers, in untellable 

251 



252 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



numbers, who have dedicated their sons to the ministry- 
months before they knew whether their prospective 
offspring was to be a boy or girl. This is only one of 
thousands of similar instances, though probably the most 
numerous of all the train, for reasons that I cannot go 
into here. Kings and queens plan for and speculate 
upon the character and career of a prospective heir to 
the throne who shall come from their loins, and beggars 
are anxious that their progeny shall be more expert at 
winning pennies from the susceptible than they them- 
selves have been. 

And so multitudes of children that come into this 
world are handicapped, from the day of their birth, by 
cut-and-dried plans for their future development. Par- 
ents have notions as to what they wish their children to 
do, or to become, and in pursuance of these notions 
they gauge their actions and force their children into 
ways that tally with what they wish the outcome to be. 

In doing this they seldom have any regard for the 
way their children are, for their natural aptitude of 
mind, and for the possibilities that are within their 
reach. With their hopes and their baseless faith rooted 
in the popular educational ideas that I have noted in 
previous chapters, namely, that any child can be or do 
anything that its parents wish it to be or to do (for that 
is practically the way they hold the matter in mind — 
their translation of such educational dogma), they pro- 
ceed to try to fashion the child according to their pre- 
determined plans. Sometimes this brings results that 
are in accordance with the purpose that underlies it. 
Occasionally a startling tally is made in this way. But, 
for the most part, those who travel this road have a time 
of it. 



THE PARENTAL FACTOR 253 

And this leads me naturally to the matter of heredity, 
concerning which I have space for only a word. The 
honest truth is, we know next to nothing about the 
transmission of traits from parents to offspring in the 
human family. We know that it is common for children 
to resemble their fathers and mothers in physical ap- 
pearance, to a greater or less extent. There are usually 
** family features " that are not hard to detect. It is also 
true that there are some mental characteristics that 
are occasionally to be noted in given families, sometimes 
for several successive generations. But when this has 
been said, the reliable testimony in the case is all in. 
All beyond that is mere guesswork, and cannot be 
counted on in the least. Such are the facts. 

I know all about the theories in the premises ; but 
you and I know, all parents know, that, so far as our 
own experience goes, these theories are not based on 
facts. It is the universal experience that counts ; and 
that all goes to show that, as yet, we know very little 
about breeding as it pertains to the human family. 
We have it down to quite definite lines among the ani- 
mals below us, and in the vegetable kingdom the results 
obtainable are brought within the limits of the positively 
known. Mr. Darwin has shown the way as it pertains 
to the first, and Mr. Burbank has revealed the wonders 
regarding what can be done in the second. But when 
it comes to us and ours, neither of these authorities can 
do more than speculate. You and I can do that. 
Bernard Shaw summed the whole matter up when he 
wrote, ** The bubble of heredity has been pricked." 

And yet, in the face of these facts, fathers and 
mothers will continue to treat their children in accord- 
ance with the theories that their experience tells them 



254 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

are false, rather than in harmony with what their com- 
mon sense shows them is true. They will persist in 
trying to fashion the lives and characters of their 
offspring along the lines of their own preconceived 
notions (which are based on what their children ought 
to be, according to the theories of a groundless heredi- 
tary philosophy), to the utter neglect of what they know, 
in their inmost souls, their children ought to do. Let 
me note a concrete case which will clearly illustrate the 
point. 

I know a man who is a fine musician. He can sing 
anything he can see, he can play any musical instru- 
ment he can get his hands on. Now it would be sup- 
posed, according to the theoretical laws of heredity, 
that this man's progeny would be musically strong. 
He has one daughter, and she can hardly tell one tone 
from another. And there you are. I'll note more of 
this case farther on, but this much of it is all I care for 
just here. 

Nor is this nearly so rare a case as some, especially 
heredity theorists, would have us think. All parents 
know that the same thing is true with their own chil- 
dren, to a greater or less degree. It is by no means 
music, in all cases ; but, somewhere, on some lines, the 
children will be found to vary largely from their pro- 
genitors ; and it is a rare thing for pronounced qualities 
to be transmitted from parent to child. And yet it is 
almost a rule that parents are ambitious to have their 
children excel along lines on which they are themselves 
particularly strong. 

How these things can be, why these variations be- 
tween parents and children, is a great question for 
which no wholly satisfactory answer has yet been found. 



THE PARENTAL FACTOR 255 

There are many guesses, but the best of them satisfy at 
only a few points. The Theosophists come as near as 
any I know anything about in answering the riddle, but 
even these can only surmise, and hint at possibilities. 
They tell how it may be, and some of the things they 
say are exceedingly suggestive. But what they know 
for sure is like all the rest, — nil ! 

So the first point to be gained in the new order of 
things is for parents to be willing to see their children as 
they really are, to fairly measure their natural aptitudes 
and possibilities, regardless of theories as to what they 
should have been if heredity were what it is claimed to 
be, and then to plan for the future of their offspring 
accordingly. And yet these are the things that it is 
almost impossible to get done. 

To revert to the case that I partly told of a few para- 
graphs back. This father thought that. because he was 
musical his daughter should be. And when he found 
that she was not, that fact made no difference in the 
plans he laid for her education, nor for the means he 
undertook to carry out those plans. According to the 
educational theories he had been reared in (the common 
theories of his time, and largely of "this present now "), 
he could make a fine musician out of his child, anyhow. 
She was an exceedingly bright child, and her mental 
capabilities seemed to her father to be sufficient to make 
a success of anything she might undertake. She could 
read at three years of age, and showed mental abilities 
far beyond the average child from her earliest infancy. 
With this equipment, the father felt sure he could realize 
his heart's desire regarding his daughter, and he pro-, 
ceeded to work out his plans accordingly. 

He bought the best piano that could be had, and he 



256 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

procured the best teacher that money could hire. And 
he put the piano, the teacher, and the girl together, and 
kept them together for months and years. And the 
girl tried her best to do what her father wanted her to 
do, to be what he was ambitious she should become — a 
good musician. 

But it was all of no avail. After weary years of prac- 
tice, and the hardest kind of work at the piano, she and 
all gave it up. To be sure, she got so that she could 
make her fingers go over the keyboard as the score on 
the rack said they should go. But that doesn't make 
music. And in time her father came to realize that it 
did not (though it nearly broke his heart to acknowledge 
the fact), and he gave her a respite from what had 
always been a dreary and senseless task for all parties 
concerned, not to say a bore to most of them. The 
only possible exceptions were the man who sold the 
piano and the teacher who got the money for his 
lessons ! 

The girl is a woman now, and she never touches the 
piano. You couldn't hire her to do so. She can't 
play ; and, thank God, she knows she can't play ! But 
she is not a dull woman, for all that. She can paint 
divinely ! All the time that she was struggling with 
the piano that she could do nothing with, she was 
begging to be allowed to use her brush and pencil. 
She made pictures in her books, and covered the blank 
spaces on her sheet music with drawings of all sorts of 
things. But for all this she was reprimanded and called 
down. Forsooth, her father was no artist in color, and 
why should his daughter be ? He could do nothing in 
that line, and why should she wish to ? Let her be a 
musician ! If she would try hard enough, and long 



THE PARENTAL FACTOR 257 

enough, she surely could be. He had done these 
things successfully, and with little effort, and he was 
her father ; and why should not child do what father 
did so readily — what he so much loved to do ? 

There was just one good reason. She was ** born 
short" on music and "born long" on color and form. 
It was not in her to be an artist in tone. It was in her 
to be an artist in color. Color was God's way for the 
girl ; tone was the father's way. It is God's way that 
wins, give it time, if we do not kill our children trying 
to make them go as we wish, whether or not! And 
many children are killed by such treatment. 

This case is no rarer in its second stage than its first. 
And others Hke it are on every hand, whichever way 
we turn. You know them, I know them ; they are 
everywhere. There are few famihes that are exempt 
or immune from some form of the trouble, to a greater 
or less extent. 

And what shall we do about it? 

This : we shall first be willing to acknowledge the 
facts in the case, to make an honest estimate of the way 
our children are, regardless of notions as to what they 
should have been, theoretically. Then we shall plan 
for each child according to the indications revealed by 
these facts, and be satisfied to work the case out that 
way. 

Yet this is a very hard thing for parents to do. We 
are all so anxious to have our children conform to the 
ways of other children ; or do as society, or fashion, or 
custom, or tradition suggest or demand. How often 
have we all heard mothers say : " My child is just as 
smart as my neighbor's child, and what one can do the 
other can do!" This trouble crops out so frequently 



258 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

in the work done in graded schools, and is a measure- 
less source of annoyance to teachers of the rank and 
file. All sorts of jealousies between pupils and of 
quarrels among parents arise from this source. Be- 
cause of it teachers are accused of partiality and of 
other high crimes and misdemeanors. In fact it is the 
black beast of nearly all schoolrooms ; and the basis of 
the trouble lies, almost altogether, with the parents, who 
insist that their child, or children, shall do just what 
some other child or children have done, or are doing, 
regardless of the natural capabilities and aptitudes of 
their own offspring. 

Parents who read these lines, will you ponder on their 
application to your own case, and to that of your own 
children } 

This comparison of our children with others, and 
wishing ours to do what others do, and as well or better 
than others do, often works injustice to the children. 
In a word, it is because of our desire to fashion our 
children according to the influences from without their 
lives, rather than from the God-born impulses and 
powers that are within them, that we go wrong and 
make them go wrong. 

I know a boy from a fine family who had an inborn 
desire to be a barber. Strange, perhaps, that this should 
be so, but so it was. His parents were chagrined beyond 
measure at the fact, and they tried to make a professional 
man of him. But it was a lamentable failure. And he 
is now a successful barber. And why not ? He was 
ashamed of himself, and of the work he tried to do as a 
professional man, and he had full cause to be. He is 
proud of his work at the chair ; he has a fine patronage, 
and his customers believe in him. I have no doubt he 



THE PARENTAL FACTOR 259 

and his well-done work will tally all right at Judgment 
Day ; and is not that the main thing, after all ? 

But we don't want our children to be barbers, and 
blacksmiths, and such like. We want them to " wear a 
gold watch chain, and sit on a high stool," regardless of 
whether they have aptitude for that sort of thing or not. 
There is right where the whole trouble lies. In this 
matter we consider the conventional, the proper, Mrs. 
Grundy, the neighbors, our own notions, and nearly 
everything else that ought not to count for a pin's fee, 
before we ask the question, what are the natural capa- 
bilities and aptitudes of the child ? And, for the most 
part, we prefer to try to make a poor professional, rather 
than a first-class mechanic or laborer of any kind, out of 
a child of ours. That is history. 

Now, as I have said before, I do not pretend that it 
is possible, early in life, to tell just exactly what each 
and every child had best do for a living when he is 
grown. But I do insist that in very many cases it is 
perfectly clear, often quite clear in early life, what he 
should 7zot do, or try to do, and that is something. The 
musical father I have spoken of should have seen, years 
before he did, that it was folly — not to say cruelty — to 
keep his daughter at work at the piano. I honestly be- 
lieve he knew this all the time. He used to try to seem 
pleased over his daughter's playing, but there was no 
real pleasure for him in her performance. What he 
said and did was only to encourage her, and to buoy up 
his own hopes. If any one but his daughter had played 
as she did, — at her best, — he would have left the room. 
And yet he kept the girl at it. 

How is it at your house, teacher, parent, or whosoever 
of you is trying to educate — yourself or some one else ^ 



26o ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

I do not underestimate the value of tackling difficult 
tasks, and of putting in hard, and perhaps disagreeable, 
work in mastering them. All these things have their 
place as educative forces. But what I do protest 
against is forcing children to continue to labor at tasks 
from which they can never produce anything that they 
can be proud of, or even be decently satisfied with. 
That is what crushes the soul. The girl I have spoken 
of was always ashamed of her piano playing. The boy 
who cuts hair is always proud of his work. There can 
be no question as to which is best for the soul. 

And so I would say to parents : study your children, 
and in consultation with them and their teachers do your 
best to set their feet in ways that lead to soul-satisfaction 
regarding what they do in life; knowing that it is not 
what they do, but how they do it, that counts, and that 
will count forever ; that " there is no trade but that he 
who pursues it may be a hero," and that a successful 
worker in the humblest of callings can call God to his 
witness, and with pride in his heart can say, " My Father, 
see what I have done! " But, parent, whoever you are, 
if your child is a botch, both you and he will be put to 
shame for ever and ever, so long as the botching is con- 
tinued. No forgiveness, no atonement, can ever make 
such a wrong right. And the issue is, will we, as parents 
and teachers, keep on making our children go wrong.? 
There is room for each one of all the children of all the 
people to go right, educationally. It is the fault of 
teachers, and especially of parents, if they do not go that 
way. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

CONCERNING INSTITUTIONS 

Collective Treatment of Specially Deficient Children who find no 
Place in the Public Schools — Some Public School Efforts to 
solve this Problem — What is done in New York — In St. Louis 
— Private and State "Institutions" for Defectives — Abnormality 
of Institutional Life — Testimony of Superintendent of Institution 
for the Blind — Paul Binner and Milwaukee Schools — Eau Claire, 
Wisconsin's, Record — Politics and " Asylums " — Statement of 
what such Methods have sometimes resulted in — Concrete In- 
stance cited — Political Influence must be eliminated from all 
"Charitable" Institutions — What may Some Day be. 

There is a percentage of our children who, as things 
are, cannot attend our public schools at all, namely, the 
"shorts" who are so wanting on some lines as to unfit 
them for doing any of the work now provided in these 
schools — the blind, deaf and dumb, and the idiotic. 
These are, each according to their own kind, now very 
largely massed together in '' institutions " which have 
been specially organized for their accommodation. 
These institutions are in evidence in every state in the 
Union — they are a part of our present plan for educat- 
ing all the children of all the people ; and, as such, they 
must be considered in these pages. 

Now please do not think that I am hostile to these 
special schools for peculiar children, or that I accuse 
the managers and teachers in such institutions of mis- 
representation regarding their work and the possibilities 
of children committed to their care, because of what I 

261 



262 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

have said in a previous chapter. I have neither the 
purpose nor the desire to do any such thing. Many 
such schools do the very best possible for such children. 
The best of them often give these pupils a chance to 
move out on their "long" sides; and, gaining courage 
and strength from such natural exercise of what facul- 
ties they have that they can control and use, such chil- 
dren sometimes gain courage and strength in other 
directions ; and this results for their well-being and ad- 
vancement, to some degree, on their sadly short sides. 
All of which is well. 

None the less, the fact remains that few children 
who are really powerless in one direction, or in many 
directions — few of these ever make very much prog- 
ress along their congenital short lines, in any school, 
special or public. And when the fact of such genuine 
shortage is fully established, it is bad practice to try to 
force the child to normality where he is thus handi- 
capped. To do so is to use him unfairly, his equipment 
being taken into the account. It will discourage him, 
make him distrustful of himself among normal children, 
and work harm to him in a multitude of ways. Rather 
such children should be so directed that they will move 
out strongly along the lines of what natural abilities 
they may have and so gain a self-confidence, at least in 
some directions, that will lead them not to be afraid, or 
ashamed of themselves when among other children. 

On this count, so reliable an authority as Henry H. 
Goddard, Ph.D., of Vineland, N.J., has recently written, 
" It is particularly true of those high-grade cases which 
are not often recognized, save by an expert, and who 
look so much like normal children that it is a tempta- 
tion to waste a great deal of time upon them in trying 



CONCERNING INSTITUTIONS 263 

to make them develop along normal lines and do those 
things for which they have not the brain or mind. As 
things are now, we generally keep on year after year 
in our endeavor to train these children, and only after 
their school work is passed do we discover that it was 
not possible for them to learn what we were trying to 
teach them. Then we know that, had we taught them 
the things they could do, we might have trained them 
to partial usefulness. But what is readily seen to be 
true in these extretne cases- is equally true in principle of 
all children. . . ." 

The italics are mine, but the words need to be em- 
phasized, coming from the source that produced them. 
They point out the futility of trying to develop, in any 
or all children, faculties and abilities which, on certain 
lines, do not exist in these particular children. And 
that this author should state that such conditions are 
''equally true in principle of all children" is worthy of 
special notice and attention. 

So we may say that if a child is born blind he may 
perhaps be brought to see. If the organs of vision are 
but partially bad, there is a possibility that they may 
be put right. But if a child is born practically without 
eyes, he can never see, and we might as well settle down 
to that conclusion one time as another ; and especially, 
not trouble the child trying to make him see when he 
has nothing to see with. That is the point. 

Of course we do so conclude in such a case of blind- 
ness. But how bad it would be to put blind children 
into competition with children with good eyes, and then 
scold them, or punish them, or mark them down, or 
degrade and disgrace them because they could not do 
as the good-eyed children do ! This is what we should 



264 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

be careful not to do. And yet something like this is 
done, almost by the wholesale, with children in our 
public schools who are as powerless to do the things 
required of them as an eyeless child is powerless to see ! 

Now, because of this fact, multitudes of children who 
are "born short" here or there, and so cannot do some 
of the work required of them in our public schools — 
work which normal children can do easily enough, but 
which all children are compelled to do if they stay in 
their grades — because of these things, many such chil- 
dren are dropped out of these schools altogether. Little 
or no provision is made for their peculiarities, for the 
way they are, and so they find small place in our public 
schoolrooms. They are of all degrees of shortness. 
Sometimes they vary so little from normality that we 
keep them in school for a while, occasionally for a 
number of years. But for the most part they drop 
back and back in the grades, always on the lines of 
their shortage. Frequently they are more than fairly 
bright in other ways, but this rarely counts. I know it 
does in some schools, but not in many. As a rule, 
they drop back if they cannot "pass examination," 
and they rarely can pass examination in subjects on 
which they are " born short." 

So they drop back and back, till, finally, they get dis- 
couraged and drop out of school altogether. We all 
know how it is. The 100,000 children in New York 
City who are behind in their grades, as the school 
reports of that city tell us they are, are examples, each 
to a greater or less extent, of this sort of thing. They 
haven't dropped out entirely yet ; but, for the most part, 
it is only a matter of time when they will do so, under 
generally practiced methods. Not one in a hundred, 



CONCERNING INSTITUTIONS 265 

I doubt if one in five hundred, of these children will ever 
stay in these schools long enough to graduate, under the 
present regime. 

Since I wrote the above paragraph, I have spent some 
days in visiting the schools of New York City, and I 
am glad to say that I found, in several of them, *' Odds 
and Ends" rooms, as it were, where these "born short" 
children, of various sorts and conditions, receive the 
special instruction their individual needs demand. In 
some of these rooms I saw some of the best pedagogi- 
cal work it has been my fortune to witness. It is well. 
Let the good work go on. And it is going on ; for, in 
some of the best public schools, all over the country, 
this plan of having special instruction for " short " pupils 
has been already inaugurated. 

The city of St. Louis has recently begun to make 
special provision for its " short " children by establishing 
special schools for them in different parts of the city. 
These schools are under the immediate supervision of 
Superintendent George Piatt Knox, who has specially 
selected a corps of teachers for this work. There is no 
attempt made in these schools to bunch together, so to 
speak, numbers of children who have similar "shortages," 
but the aim has been to locate the schools so that they 
will reach the largest number of children in a given 
district who are so " short," in any way, that they can- 
not keep their places in the grades. I cannot give 
details of the work done, as I should like to do, for lack 
of space, but I commend the plan St. Louis is working 
out as one of the best I have ever seen in operation. 
There are other cities where similar work is being done, 
and I wish them all God speed. 

(I should like to add, just here, that it seems to me 



266 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

the efforts now making to do the best possible for these 
"short" children are not as well directed as they will 
some day be. As things now are, the special work ex- 
pended upon these children is intended to put them into 
such a condition that they can take up the regular work 
in the grades, which they have been unable to " carry." 
That is, an attempt is made to make their " shortages " 
come up to a fixed standard, and then to have them go 
on with their work just as though they were normal 
pupils. My impression is that time will show that such 
a method is a mistake. It is not in harmony with the 
ultimate facts in these cases, as has been so well stated 
by Professor Goddard in the paragraph I quoted from 
him a few lines back. The truth is that, where pupils 
are so " short " on certain lines that they have to have 
" special treatment," it is practically useless to try to 
bring them to normality on these lines. By far the 
better thing to do, as Professor Goddard wisely sug- 
gests, is to help such pupils move out strongly where 
they can, and in this way it is not impossible that 
they may, by the impulse thus given, improve on their 
" short " or weak places. The principle to be kept in 
mind is to do the best we can for these pupils on the 
plane of their inabilities, and to let that part of the 
work go at that. Meantime, we will keep on the look- 
out for any signs of improvement on these weak places, 
and if there are evidences of better conditions, make 
the most of them. 

These cases can often be handled successfully by 
having such pupils recite in two or more grades in 
school. Thus, if a pupil is " short " in mathematics, 
such pupil may recite in a lower grade, where simpler 
work is done in this branch, and go on with his class in 



CONCERNING INSTITUTIONS 267 

work which he is able to carry. Such accommodations 
of pupils in different grades can readily be arranged for, 
if only there is a will to do it on the part of the teachers 
and the principal. And it is a most excellent way to 
try. 

This mixing of grades will not destroy anything of 
real value in the schools. The military uniformity is 
all that will have to suffer. It will make some extra 
work, to be sure, but the results will pay for all that. 
It is only another way of fitting the schools to the needs 
of the children, instead of forcing the children to fit the 
schools, or to drop out if they cannot conform.) 

But, whatever efforts are now making or are to be 
made to help out large numbers of children who are 
partially ** short," as it were, there still remain many 
children who are very short — the blind, the deaf and 
dumb, and the idiotic — and for these we make so little 
provision in our public schools that they, as a rule, are 
out from the start. Few of the blind and of the deaf 
and dumb ever enter these schools at all. Many who 
are idiotic, to a greater or less degree, start in at these 
schools, go for a little while, and then are dropped out. 

And these latter, the blind, the deaf and dumb, and 
the idiotic, who are short in so many ways that the 
course of study in the graded schools in no way meets 
their needs — these are gathered together, in large num- 
bers, because there is no place for them in the public 
schools, and sent to special institutions, there to be cared 
for and educated where their shortages can be taken 
into account. This is the common practice in this 
country at present. It is backed by the best and most 
humane of motives. Private generosity and state assist- 
ance have vied with each other to make provision for 



268 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

these unfortunates, and institutions devoted to such work 
are to be found on every hand. 

And yet — 

Have you ever visited any of these institutions? If 
you have not done so, I wish you would, the first 
chance you get, especially if you are a teacher. For I 
assure you, you would find much therein to make 
you think many things. At least, I assure you that I 
thought many things when one of the best superintend- 
ents of a state institution for the blind in this country 
said to me, with tears in his eyes : " After an experience 
of eight years as the head of this institution, I say to 
you, frankly, that I really fear we do these children 
more harm than good ! " Is not a remark like that, 
made by a man of the rarest ability in his profession, 
and who has had eight years' experience in his work, 
and who has had charge of thousands of blind children 
during that time — is not that something to think about, 
in this matter of the education of all the children of all 
the people .'' 

And then he went on to explain the reason for his 
doubts. He said that, while they did a great deal for 
these children, in many ways, in the institution he had 
charge of, yet the fact that they had so many of them 
together, and that, for so many years (the formative 
years of each child's life) they were forced to keep the 
children in such unnatural surroundings on the social 
and domestic sides of Hfe — that, for these reasons, the 
total result was of very doubtful quality. 

** What we have here," he said, " is virtually a great 
big hotel. And the life these children lead is, practi- 
cally, a hotel life. We care for them in every possible 
way." (The institution was a model of cleanliness and 



CONCERNING INSTITUTIONS 269 

the most scrupulous care, from top to bottom, within 
and without.) " But," he went on, ** that is not what 
such children need. What they require is to be taught 
to care for themselves, and so become able to support 
themselves. And that we have small means for teach- 
ing them, in an institution like this. We do what we 
can to teach them to work, but the range we can offer 
them in that direction is very limited. The result is 
that, for the most part, the children sit around and 
visit, and play with one another, and have just as good a 
time as we can give them while they are here. We 
have them go to school, and do the regular school work 
as far as possible. But, outside of that, we do not do 
very much for them. The result is that when they leave 
this institution and go home they are so lonesome that 
many of them pine away and die in a very short time ! " 
That is what he said ! 

And his idea was, further, that the proper place for 
these children to grow up is in the homes where they 
were born, and among people and surroundings that 
they will have to live with when they are grown ; that 
they should be educated with other children, in our pub- 
lic schools, so that their childhood friends and acquaint- 
ances should become the friends and acquaintances of 
their mature years, and that the environments of their 
youth should be those of their manhood and their 
womanhood. That may seem to be only a dream, but 
there are schools in this country that are making the 
dream true as I write. 

I do not know how many such schools there are. I 
do know, though, that in the days of the late Paul 
Binner, of blessed memory, I saw deaf-and-dumb boys 
and girls doing regular work in the Milwaukee, Wiscon- 



270 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

sin, high schools. These children had been educated 
in public graded schools in that city, where special at- 
tention was given to them because of their infirmities. 
In that city, children of like affliction were classed to- 
gether in separate rooms and there taught by special 
teachers in their grade work. They had been taught 
to " read the lips " and by the time they were of the 
proper age to enter the high school they were ready to 
go into regular high schools of the city, and do work 
there such as other children were doing. 

In the city of Eau Claire, in the same state, I saw 
'* mute " children in a ward school, with the rank and file 
of the children of that municipality, and all doing well. 

In the high schools mentioned in Milwaukee, the 
pupils were in the regular classes, where some special, 
yet really minor, privileges were allowed them because 
of their shortage. But they could all " talk, and read 
lips," thanks to Mr. Binner's faithful teaching, and they 
seemed to be doing well. 

In Eau Claire, these peculiar " shorts," which were in 
a ward school, sat in a room by themselves and had 
special teachers ; but they played with the rest of the 
children at noons and recesses, went to and from school 
with them, and they lived in their own homes, with their 
own people. One of their teachers told me that she 
took special pains to have the parents of these pupils do 
what ought to be done for them in their homes — to 
train them to do as much as possible for themselves, 
things being as they were. In this way these children 
seemed to be growing up in a way that promised far 
better results than would be likely to come from the ex- 
periences and habits acquired from years spent in hotel 
life in an institution. 



CONCERNING INSTITUTIONS 271 

As this book goes to press, I learn that New York 
City and St. Paul, Minn., have begun to provide for 
their specially "short" children in their public schools. 
I am sure there are other cities which are doing this 
same sort of work. I hope there may be many of them. 
My reason for mentioning the cities I have referred to 
is because I happen to know about them, and of the 
excellent work they are doing. It is surely work in the 
right direction, and it will grow and increase as we 
come to modify our public schools and adapt them to 
the needs of all the children of all the people. 

And that is what we shall do, " some day, some time." 
Of course, it will cost something to do this way, but we 
need not worry about that. For when have the Ameri- 
can people ever shrunk from the establishment of edu- 
cational ways and means, when they believed them to be 
for the common good } 

But, of course, for many years yet we shall keep most 
of these children in institutions, as we are now doing. 
That method is now to the fore, and must have its way 
for a time. But that it will also have its day admits 
of small doubt. Its ways are not without virtues, but 
there are faults that must be corrected ; and when these 
are plucked out, the probabilities are that the institutions 
will pass with them. It will not be an immediate at- 
tainment, but it will come, as we learn how to care for 
these *' little ones " in the best way. 

Meantime, let it be said that the management of these 
institutions for those who are " born short," or who are 
warped from normality by disease or misfortune — the 
"asylums" for the blind, the deaf and dumb, the idi- 
otic, the insane, and the criminal — that all these insti- 
tutions which are managed by the state must one day be 



272 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

placed beyond political control ! The necessity for this 
is pronouncedly apparent to all who are in any way 
familiar with the facts, as they exist in a large number 
of cases. Some states there are that have already ar- 
rived at this condition, but the general practice is still 
otherwise. But if the rank and file of our people could 
only know of the evils that the political control of such 
institutions inflicts on multitudes of those who ought not 
to be compelled to suffer one extra pang — if they could 
be made to realize this, they would sweep the system 
away at a single blow. 

I once knew a case where the governor of a state 
sent word to the superintendent of one of these institu- 
tions to make a place for two of his nieces as teachers 
in the school. Neither of the young ladies had ever 
had a particle of training for the special work that such 
teachers had to do. Worse than that, they both hated 
the work, and only did it because they were poor ! I 
saw their wretched attempts in their schoolrooms, and 
when I asked the superintendent why he permitted such 
teachers to remain in the institution, he told me who 
they were, and how they came to be where they were. 
'' And if I dismiss them, I lose my place," he added ! 

In a state institution for the idiotic, whose manage- 
ment had recently been changed to pay a political debt, 
I once saw three children strapped to their beds and 
left alone in a locked room for hours ! In the corner 
of this same room a poor paralyzed idiotic boy sat, 
strapped fast in a chair ! He could move neither hand 
nor foot ; and, it being a hot midsummer day and the 
windows of the room unscreened, the flies were all over 
his face and hands, and he could not brush them away ! 
As the door opened and I came into the room, the little 



CONCERNING INSTITUTIONS 273 

fellow turned his eyes towards me and called out 
"mama" in a voice that would break your heart! It 
was the only word he could speak ; and, oh, the pathos 
of it, as he uttered it ! 

Before we entered this room, the matron, who was 
showing me through the building, said, " I guess we 
had better not go in there," and she turned toward 
another door. 

And I said, " Why not ? " 

" Because," she repHed, " that is the worst hole in the 
house ! " 

And I said, " Oh, don't call it a hole ! " 

Whereupon she responded, " If you should see it, 
you couldn't call it anything else ! " 

And I said, " I want to see it ! " 

Then she unlocked the door, and I saw what I have 
just told about. 

As the little boy in the corner cried " mama," the 
poor woman who was my pilot broke down completely, 
and said, " Oh, Mr. Smith, I don't know that God will 
ever forgive me for what I am doing here ! It is ter- 
rible, terrible ! " And she sank down upon the edge of 
one of the beds, dropped her head on her arms, arid 
cried in despair. 

And I said, " What makes you do it, then } " 

" Because," she replied, ** I don't know how to do 
any better ! I have never had any experience in such 
work. I am doing the best I know how, but I don't 
know what to do !" 

She then went on to explain that her son-in-law, who 
had been a country doctor and a local politician of con- 
siderable prestige, had recently been appointed by the 
new governor as superintendent of the institution ; 



274 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



that he had made her matron, to keep as much of the 
money in the family as possible ! " For we have always 
been poor," she said ! She also told me that the old 
teachers had " all been dismissed, and none of the new 
ones knew what to do with such children as were in 
that room." And that was why they were as they were ! 

This matron was a good woman ; at least she told the 
truth when she said she was doing the best she knew 
how. But, oh, good people, the day must come when 
the Hke of this shall not be possible. The wail of that 
paralytic idiot boy, tied in his chair, and the helpless 
mutterings of those three children strapped to their beds 
— these, and others like them (for these are not alone) 
shall come up before God, and, some day, such things 
will cease to be, for God will have it so ! 

I saw the same institution some years later, when 
changes had again been made in management, for the 
same political reasons. The place was scrupulously 
clean, the children had good food and clothing, and 
were well cared for, so far as their bodies were con- 
cerned. But that was about all. The superintendent 
was only another doctor-politician, and the teachers 
and assistants were all in their places because of 
political prestige. Not one of them had ever had 
any special training for such places as they held, and 
there was an air of any-way-to-get-along about the en- 
tire institution. I did not meet a soul about the place 
that I felt had any idea whatever of what the words 
"love" and "sympathy" meant, or might mean, in the 
premises. It all seemed to me as exploited on the com- 
monest material plane, with never an idea or an action 
that extended much above the waistline of all parties 
concerned. 



CONCERNING INSTITUTIONS 275 

When I compared this institution with another, in a 
neighboring state, which I once visited, the contrast 
was most marked. In this latter I saw the best peda- 
gogical work I have ever set my eyes on. I saw some 
fifty idiotic boys, some of them exceedingly *' short " in 
many ways, at work making brushes of various kinds. 
Their attainments were something wonderful. A good 
many of the brushes were of the coarser kind, the mak- 
ing of which did not call for any very delicate manipula- 
tion. Others were of fine quahty, and required great 
skill for their successful construction. But all the work 
was well done, and the boys worked at it with a will. 
The teacher was a practical brush maker, who loved the 
work and the boys he taught how to do it. I never saw 
such devotion and skill embodied in a teacher as was 
manifested by this man. And his boys (he called them 
his boys) were happy, cheerful, and getting on. What 
more was needed } 

But — 

Two years later I visited the same institution. This 
wonderful teacher was gone, and the brush shop was 
closed ! The boys were lounging about, or were herded 
in rooms, or on the lawn, in charge of " keepers." It 
was the same old story. There was a new governor. 
He had made a clean sweep of the personnel of the in- 
stitution, and his political helpers, men and women, were 
now in charge, their sole qualifications being that they 
had done good work during the campaign ! 

The place was clean, the children were well fed, and 
I saw no signs of their physical abuse. But I saw 
nothing in the way of special provisions for their partic- 
ular condition. It was all on the material plane, with 
no recognition of the possibility of anything more. 



276 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

There was some attempt at routine schoolroom work, 
of the regular graded school sort, but it amounted to 
little or nothing. Not one child in a hundred in the 
institution could do anything with it worth mentioning. 
Some of the teachers had done that kind of work before 
in public schools. That was claimed by the governor 
as proof positive that they were fit for their places. 
For is not teaching teaching ? Truly so ! 

Several of these teachers were bright and pleasant 
young women, but I saw only one that was at all fitted 
for the work they were all trying to do. I do not ac- 
cuse them personally. It is the political system that 
I condemn. That is wholly bad. And, because it is 
wholly bad, it must go. It is a bad thing, help push it 
along. You I am talking to. 

And, one of these days, when the system and the 
institutions it runs have both passed away (the institu- 
tions will remain long after the political system that now 
runs them is gone — will remain, I believe, to do an 
untold amount of good in the way of pioneer work, in 
discovering how best to handle each special kind of 
"shorts" committed to their care; and then, having 
served their special purposes in the order of things, 
they too, will retire), when both these have passed, then 
we shall have so well learned how and what to do for 
these variants from the normal, that we will make 
places for them in our public schools, where they can 
grow up in natural surroundings, and so come to fill 
their natural places in human society. Such a con- 
summation may be a very long ways off, is doubtlessly 
so, but some day it will come. And it is your business 
and mine to help it arrive. 



CHAPTER XXX 

"MAKING AN ACT" 

Agnes Repplier's " Bouquets of Good Deeds " — The Two Sides of 
the Issue — The Limits of " Authority " — Tyranny and Freedom 
— " Swine, why will ye Squeal ? " — Bearing of this Principle edu- 
cationally examined — The Good and the Bad in its Practice — 
Punctuality — Possible Abuse of this Virtue — Tardy Boy with 
Weak Heart — Compulsion and Self-righteousness — Laziness — 
Bill Nye as a Lazy Man — Truancy — Professor Bodine's Testi- 
mony — The Right and the Wrong of " Making Acts " — The 
True Mission of Drudgery. 

In one of her most clever sketches, Agnes Repplier 
tells how she and her schoolgirl chums used to " make 
acts." To make an act consisted in deliberately and 
purposely doing something that one naturally disliked 
to do, some duty whose performance went against the 
grain. She goes on to tell what credits they were given 
in school for making acts, and how they kept a tally of 
them, out of which they made "bouquets of good 
deeds," which were duly presented to their teachers on 
festive occasions. All of which was counted as of great 
moral worth and a means of educational discipline to 
the girls. 

As Miss Repplier tells it, she has her fling at the 
practice, and perhaps with good reason, all the items in 
the case, as she was obliged to practice them, being 
taken into account. None the less, the fact remains 
that there is virtue gained by making acts, if only the 
acts made are of the right kind. And right there some- 
thing needs to be said, since this idea is closely related 

277 



278 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

to the education of all the children of all the people, as 
this has so far been attempted and worked out. 

I have always admired the old woman who said, 
"What God and circumstances put on me I'll try to 
stand and keep good natured about ; but what John 
and the old man are to blame for, I'll be bound if I'll 
put up with ! " 

There is a whole lot of cant and nonsense, not to say 
wretched tyranny, current in this business of " making 
acts " in life, not of the kind Miss Repplier speaks of, 
perhaps, but of a similar sort, in all kinds of places, that 
we have to meet with. It is held by the pronounced 
advocates of the dogma that it cultivates virtue to the 
highest extent to do just what one is told to do, no 
matter what, and ask no questions and make no replies. 
But the fact is, it makes all the difference in the world 
what the cause is that stands behind the required obe- 
dience, as to the virtue that is forthcoming from con- 
formity to its dictates. If the compelHng agency is " God 
and circumstances," as the old lady put it, making acts 
from such cause will develop virtue of the divinest 
quality. For this cause martyrs have gone to the stake, 
and Jesus hung upon the Cross. Let no one say one 
single word against the sacrifice of one's selfish desires 
on the altar of duty which is God-born. 

But all this is one thing, and being compelled to do 
things merely because " John and the old man " say so, 
is quite another thing, and right there is where the dif- 
ficulty arises. It was the like of these latter " acts " 
that Miss Repplier reviled. 

There has been no more frequent sin, through all 
the ages, than for selfish men and women to set up 
their own authority and label it the will of God or 



"MAKING AN ACT^ 



279, 



virtually that. Nor has this sinning been confined to 
the church — any church — more than to other forms 
of centralized power. True, most churches have been 
guilty of the practice, to a greater or less extent, at 
some period in their history; but equally, or more 
guilty, have been kings, emperors, presidents, govern- 
ors, parliaments, congresses, legislatures, parents, school- 
teachers, and the whole line of those who are '* in au- 
thority." 

I suppose the reason for this is to be found, not in 
our own innate depravity, but in the infiniteness of our 
individuality. The fact is, we are each of us so great, 
in our inmost selves, that there is an inherent desire for 
omnipotence on the part of every one of us, and we are 
wont to mistake the wish of our own hearts for the 
voice of Deity itself. I think few cases of tyranny 
could ever be found where the tyrant could not justify 
himself and his acts, if his side of the story alone were 
told. All tyrants are not bad-meaning men. Indeed, it 
might be truthfully said that they are all well-meaning 
men, from their own viewpoint. Most excellent men 
and the tenderest-hearted women have justified slavery, 
from the earliest times ; and the most exacting school- 
masters, or set-in-their-ways schoolmarms, are cocksure 
that their requirements are not only just and right, but 
that they are the best means for compassing the proper 
education and development of the children under their 
care. 

And so, in passing judgment on these and others like 
them, we need to be merciful, even as we would have 
them show mercy. I may need mercy myself, even for 
the words I am now writing ! " Such as you and I " 
has a wide range ! 



28o ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

But mercy must have its limit, like every other good 
thing; or, the first thing we know, it will fall on the 
other side and result in an evil that is worse than the 
one it was set to mend. 

And so, to come to the point that is germane to the 
subject in hand, namely, what all this has to do with 
the education of all the children of all the people, there 
is very Httle good that can ever come to a pupil by 
forcing him to '' make an act " which is based solely on 
the whim, or notion, or caprice, of some one, or a whole 
lot of ones, who are in authority over him. More than 
that, for a pupil to yield obedience to such demands 
without protest or attempt to be free from the thraldom, 
breeds a spirit of unquestioning servitude, stultifies the 
intellect and dwarfs the soul, and tends to make the 
pupil more of a slave than a man. And that is why 
the state has a right to look after this matter. 

It may be said (and doubtless will be, by some who 
read these pages) that there is small need of preaching 
the doctrine of freedom and independence to American 
children ; but do not the records of every year since 
we have been in existence as a nation teach that it is 
only this spirit which has saved us alive and given us a 
name and a place among the nations of the earth ? And 
from whom have protests for the reverse of these things 
come ? From those who would maintain their order of 
things, regardless — from "stand-patters" and their 
likes. Peace, peace, they shout ! " Swine, why will ye 
squeal .-* " they continually do cry. They are not bad 
people who say these things — not bad in some ways 
that are currently called bad. Many of them neither 
swear, nor drink, nor live licentiously ; and yet, if they 
could have their way with those with whom they are out 



"MAKING AN ACT" 281 

of patience for not doing as they say, they would soon 
bring about a despotism that would be Russian. 

All this has an especial bearing on the matter of 
forcing courses of study upon pupils; and of school 
government, as it perhaps pertains to them. The right, 
in both these cases, turns on the basis of authority for 
requirements imposed. If this is seated only in the 
notions of the dictator, and has no solid backing in the 
eternal order of things as they pertain to each one who 
is asked to conform — in such case, the good that can 
come from obedience to demands can be, at best, only 
of a negative sort 

When the backing of a compulsory course of study is 
only the dictum of men and women who have the 
power to compel its observance, small good can come 
to the pupil who " makes an act " of undertaking its 
requirements. If the course and their natural abilities 
tally, well and good. Then they make no act by con- 
forming to it. But if they only do as they are told, or 
as they are compelled to do if they stay in school at all, 
little good can come to them from such servitude. 

The same principle holds good in the matter of school 
government. All of this that is based on the welfare 
of each child, he being what he is, is good. All else is 
bad, no matter who backs it, or how it is done. 

Which leads me to say that the greatest of care 
should be taken by teachers in the use of wholesale 
methods of securing conformity to requirements, no 
matter how just these may be in a general way. 

For instance : Punctuality is a virtue which our 
schools should surely inculcate, to the limit. But the 
teacher should never forget that there is a limit. I once 
saw this : A teacher brought a boy of ten to the prin- 



282 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

cipal, and said: "Charlie has been tardy again, and 
when I asked him why, he said he slept too late this 
morning. Now, don't you think that if a boy can't sleep 
enough at home, I had better make him sleep in school, 
where we can all see him do it ? " 

And the principal said he thought that would be a 
good thing. So the boy was taken to the schoolroom 
where he belonged, some shawls were spread on the 
floor near the teacher's desk, and on these the little 
fellow was compelled to lie down in the presence of his 
laughing schoolmates. He was as pale as a ghost 
when he lay down, his hands were cold, and his teeth 
chattered as if he had the ague. But that made no 
difference ! He was habitually tardy, and his bad habit 
had to be broken up. That was the why of it all. 

Now this teacher did not mean to be bad. She was 
really a kind-hearted woman, in most things. And she 
was trying to do her duty, in a way. But she was a 
tyrant, so far as this boy was concerned. And I will 
tell you why. 

The woman who taught drawing in that building, and 
so went from room to room, happened to be present 
when this boy was disgraced before the school. She 
said nothing (and she was wise in that she did not 
speak), but she made it her business to follow the boy 
to his home and see his parents. They told her that 
the boy was " too lazy to draw his breath," and that he 
"wanted to sleep all the time." And it struck this 
teacher that this was not a normal condition for a boy 
of ten ; and as the parents had only reproaches for the 
little fellow, she, on her own responsibility, took him to 
a physician who knew his business, and asked him to 
examine the child. As soon as the doctor put his hand 



"MAKING AN ACT" 283 

on the boy's pulse he said : " Why, this child is suffer- 
ing from a weak heart. It is a marvel that he is alive." 

The fact was that this boy's heart was beating only a 
little over forty times in a minute, when it should have 
beaten seventy-five, and that was the cause of his tardi- 
ness and of his laziness. And when a few weeks' treat- 
ment had put that heart shipshape, both these defects 
were cured also. All of which is another proof that 
"these things are in the body." 

And what does this truthful tale teach regarding 
" making acts " ? It teaches a great many things which 
you know as well as I do, and which we all need to give 
heed to. It teaches, first, that before we say "you 
must " to a pupil, we should be sure of all the facts in 
the case. Second, that there is great danger of our 
being bad when we mean to be good and are too self- 
righteous to see more than one side of the case. Third, 
that what is often called laziness is really inability. 
And those are three great lessons that every teacher 
and parent ought to master and hold a diploma vouch- 
ing for efficiency in, before being allowed to have any- 
thing to do with the governing of children. 

Which leads me to say that I would Hke to write a 
chapter on laziness, if I had room for it. 

But won't you work it out for yourself ? In a word, 
my own opinion is that what we condemn (not to say 
damn) in people as laziness arises often from inapti- 
tude, or inability, to move out successfully on certain 
lines. Just think of that, and see how it fits your case. 
I am very sure how it fits mine. 

I know a young man who from his earliest youth has 
been branded as lazy. Yet he once rode a bicycle from 
Chicago to Boston ! Would a lazy boy do that ? We 



284 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

need to reform our definition of this fault. Perhaps 
what we need more than that is to understand it better. 
When I traveled with Bill Nye, our manager told me 
that I should find him the laziest man I ever saw. As a 
matter of fact, I never knew him to rest for a single in- 
stant. He was averse to physical exercise. But his 
mind was always on the alert. As he said, he could 
never get his "think tank " to let up for a minute. He 
died from mental overwork at the age of forty-six. Was 
he lazy ? 

With these hints, you can work out this problem of 
laziness for yourself. But don't neglect to do it if you 
have lazy children to deal with, either in your family or 
in school. 

And all children are lazy on some lines. They are 
specially liable to be so between the ages of eight and 
fourteen. So many others have treated that fact that I 
need not go into it here. But put all the reasons for 
laziness together, when you work out the problem, and 
act according to what they all say, and then you will 
have less cause to pray for forgiveness for your sins 
against lazy children than you otherwise would. 

This naturally leads to the subject of truancy, on 
which it is truth to say that the great bulk of truancy is 
caused by the unwillingness of children to undertake 
what they have little or no ability to perform. Professor 
Bodine, of Chicago, who has had charge of the truancy 
affairs of that city for a number of years, testifies that 
more than eighty per cent of the cases that he has had 
to deal with are below the fourth grade, and that he 
rarely ever knew of a case of truancy where the child 
was doing well in school and was abreast of his class in 
his grade work. " They are practically all children who 



"MAKING AN ACT" 285 

do not, or cannot, get along well in the work they are 
required to do in the schoolroom " is the way he put it. 
He told of one "truant" who had been kept in one 
grade for seventy-two weeks, because there was some of 
the work that belonged to that grade which he could not 
master. What wonder that such a boy was a truant ^ 
The marvel is that he did not commit suicide ! 

Which brings us back to the same old point ; namely, 
that we must make our schools fit the pupils if we com- 
pel the pupils to attend them. A truancy law is a good 
thing, in so far as it keeps all the children in school. 
But it needs to be supplemented by work in these schools 
that shall be suited to the needs of all the children we 
legally compel to attend them. And it will be. 

Need I protest, once more, that in saying these things 
I am not advocating happy-go-lucky, any-old-way meth- 
ods in school government and work ? I am doing no 
such thing. I will even go farther and declare that I 
seriously doubt whether " moral suasion " is a sufficiently 
potent force to make our schools a success. There are 
many cases where, things being as they are, " the stern 
hand of the law " is the only power that will keep things 
moving as they should. All I ask for is, that when this 
same stern hand of the law gets in its work, it should do 
so on the lines of justice, decency, and common sense, 
and not merely in the execution of its own arbitrary 
power. 

I need not extenuate. Every right-minded person 
who reads these lines knows what I mean ; and for the 
rest, there is no use in talking. Yet even these will see 
things right some day. The world does move. If we 
compel our children to " make acts," let us be sure we 
are right in doing so, all the facts being taken into the 



286 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

account. Then such " making " will be good for them. 
Otherwise not. 

I am tempted just here to pursue this theme further 
along the line of school government and its related sub- 
jects, but space forbids. I must remark, however, that 
I believe the method of having the pupils of the higher 
grades in our public schools govern themselves is a 
move in the right direction; and that it will one day 
largely obtain in these departments. It is all of the 
right sort, the development of self-controlling indi- 
viduals. It is not an easy way to go. Its early experi- 
mentation and exploitation will be crude and full of 
errors ; all sorts of ignominy will be heaped upon it by 
monarchical unbelievers and those who lack faith in all 
mankind ; but, in spite of it all, I believe the method of 
self-government in the higher grades of our public 
schools will win its way to the front. It has the right 
marks upon it, and so it must succeed. 

Perhaps I ought to add that I do not at all ignore the 
fact that there are a great many things, in the lives of 
all of us, that we must do whether we like to or not. 
There is more or less drudgery for us all. And drudg- 
ery has its place in the development of virtue, doubtless. 
All I insist on is that we and our children should not be 
made to drudge simply for drudgery's sake. We should 
all learn to do unpleasant tasks when we must, but that 
must should be *' God or circumstances," and not the 
dicta of some one who merely wants to compel us to 
obey his will. That is, we should not do disagreeable 
things merely to " make acts." We should do them 
with pleasure when genuine duty requires. Such "made 
acts," bunched together, will surely make most fragrant 
and beautiful ''bouquets of good deeds." 



CHAPTER XXXI 

MANIPULATION 

Definition of the Term — Growth of this Quality the Measure of 
all Progress — Its Possible Transmission — The Teaching that 
Counts — The Business of Schools as seen from this Viewpoint 

— Simplicity of Ancient Work on these Lines — How its Volume 
grew — Learning what has been done vs. Learning how to do 

— A Place for an Economic Waste Basket — Manipulation and 
Books — Boys who are Book-dull but Manipulatively Strong 
Otherwise — New Possibilities in Educational Work opened just 
here — The Doctrine of "Short" and "Long" as related to 
Manipulation — Range of the Faculty and some of its Results — 
The Letter and the Spirit of this Law. 

The word that stands at the head of this chapter has 
a bad name, in some of its meanings ; but it is a good 
word for all that. And it is in its good sense that^T in- 
troduce it here, as germane to the issue of educating all 
the children of all the people so that they may become 
good citizens, as they would not all become but for the 
education which the state gives them. As I use the 
word "manipulation ' ' here, it means the changing of things 
from a cruder to a more perfect condition, through the 
agency of human deeds. Man finds things in a certain 
state, or condition; and by manipulation he changes 
them so that they shall better serve his needs. That 
is a simple way of saying what I mean by manipulation. 

And the progress of the human race has always been 
measured by the growth of the power to manipulate, on 
the part of mankind. When man had no manipulative 
power he was on a par with the rest of the animals. 

287 



288 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

But when he put an edge on a piece of stone, and used 
that to fight with or to chop wood with, then he left the 
ranks of the mere brute creation and began his ascent 
of the ladder of mental and spiritual progress. And 
every step that he has gained in his upward climb has 
been at the hands of his ability to manipulate something. 
I need not work out the details. You can do that as 
well as I can, now that you have the idea. 

This manipulative ability on the part of mankind 
manifests itself in a million ways. It deals not only 
with stone and steel — wood, hay, and stubble — but it 
busies itself with the stuff that dreams are made on, 
with ideas, and the highest spiritualities. The range of 
its work is limitless, and wherever it leads the way, there 
a larger civilization follows. But wherever its hand is 
stayed, stagnation results. 

Now manipulation is a quality that can be transmitted 
from one generation to another. The fathers can show 
us how and what they did ; we can learn their ways, and 
so can plant our feet on the round of the ladder that 
they stood on, to say the least. And then, if we are 
what we ought to be — if we will do as much for the 
future as the past has done for us, we will proceed to do 
some manipulation on our own behalf, and so the race 
will progress a little more, the world will be some better 
for our having lived in it. This is the story of the growth 
of civilization through manipulation. 

And when the one who knows how shows some one 
who doesn't know how the way to do what he of the first 
part does, and succeeds in getting the party of the second 
part to do as well, or better, than he of the first part does, 
that is teaching that counts. All else is a fake. 

Schools are the places set apart where this teaching 



MANIPULATION 289 

is to be done. In a word, it is a part of the business of 
schools to transmit manipulative ability from one gener- 
ation to the next. This much they must do, if they keep 
what is coming on abreast of what has been, or is. 
They ought to do a good deal more, and give the advanc- 
ing host the power to march at least a little farther 
along the road of progress than their predecessors have 
ever traveled. 

Of course, in the early ages of the race all teaching 
was very simple, and the range it compassed was ex- 
ceedingly narrow. Only a little manipulation had been 
done, and this was of the primitive sort, the mastery of 
which it was not difficult to transmit. Teaching was 
then no complicated affair, and success in the art was 
not difficult. When the stone-age father had only to 
have his son take a stone in his hand and do as he did, 
neither the theory nor the art of education was hard to 
master. 

As the volume and range of manipulation grew, then 
indeed the art of teaching became more and more com- 
plicated. And by and by the accumulated mass of 
things that could be done became so great that no one 
man could master it all. 

Then began the practice of teaching the mere story 
of what had been done, instead of the doing of the 
same! And right there is where both teachers and 
schools began to make a great mistake. Of course, the 
records of what had been done must be preserved. So 
much was right. But a mere memory knowledge of a 
record of what has been done is a far different thing 
from the ability to do well at least some of the things 
that the record tells about. And when teachers and 
schools began putting the bulk of their time and labor, 



290 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

and that of their pupils, on the mere learning about 
what had been done, rather than on doing some of the 
things themselves, then they set their feet in a wrong 
path. And some of them have gone a long way on this 
wrong road, and they are still loath to leave it. 

Because, you see, it is only the ability to do something 
that makes a human being of value to himself and his 
fellows. He who can only tell what someone else has 
done is a very small factor in civilization. He can add 
but very little to the progress of the race. A citizen is 
of value to society and the state only as he has the 
ability to help society and the state to be better because 
he is a member of them. And whoever fails to do this 
is a burden and not a blessing to all parties concerned. 
The state cannot afford to make burdens for itself to 
carry. It must get returns for the money and effort 
expended in trying to make helpful men and women 
out of helpless children. 

A great deal of what was once of value by way of 
manipulative ability has fallen into the rubbish heap, as 
time has gone on. It may be well enough that the 
record of all this sort be preserved ; but the day of the 
utility of longer bothering our heads very much about 
it has long gone by. Surely we have no right to de- 
mand that all the children of all the people shall mem- 
orize all this rubbish of what pertains to the dead 
manipulation which was done in former times. There 
is a place in this world for the economic use of a waste- 
basket. 

When our schools teach the manipulation of books 
rather than their memorization, then we shall have a 
large amount of time for the pupils to spend in learning 
to manipulate other things. This, as I have before 



MANIPULATION 291 

Stated, but must say again, will make room for manual 
training and domestic science in our school courses, so 
that no crowding will result. This will give us a chance 
to teach our boys and girls how co do things, rather than 
merely to memorize how somebody else has done them; 
in which last there is small virtue. 

Then, too, we shall have time to give our boys and 
girls a chance to try their hands at bits of manipulation 
on their own account, opportunity to handle things in 
their own way and as the spirit gives them power to 
utter, and not merely things that can be wrought upon 
with the hands. They can be led, each in his own way, 
to fashion some idea of his own, to give it a form that 
no one else has ever shaped it into ; to manipulate some- 
thing, in some way, as has never before been done, and 
so to contribute something to the advancement of the 
race. Is this too much to expect.'' I believe not. 

Did you see the report of the boy who could not be 
kept in school after he was fourteen, and who then 
made a wireless telegraphic apparatus, according to 
plans of his own working out, and began stealing 
government messages as they hurtled through the air .? 
And a teacher said to me the other day, " I have a 
couple of boys in school that I can hardly do a thing 
with in their classes ; but if there is anything the matter 
with the mechanism, anywhere in the building, they will 
get after it, and put it right, nine times out of ten ; and 
work like heroes, and be as happy as larks while they 
are at it." Yea, verily ! 

The permanent success of our schools, the measure 
of what they really do for the good of the body politic, 
both turn on how much and how well they teach all the 
children of all the people to manipulate things — all 



292 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



sorts of things, as many things as there are children, 
and of as varying grades of coarse and fine, material 
and spiritual, as there are varieties of quality in matter 
and in individual being. What untried ways there are 
here for us to travel, what unexplored fields for us to 
discover and survey ! 

And herein lies the inspiration for all true teachers, 
the goal that lures them on. Columbus made a great 
addition to the world's map, and to human possibilities, 
when he found the western world. What new worlds 
may you and I yet find, in the unsailed seas of human 
possibilities that are open in every schoolroom ! Such 
possibilities are always present, and this is why the call- 
ing of the teacher is the greatest of all. If only we can 
so manipulate these possibilities that they shall ultimate 
for the utmost. 

I cannot leave this phase of the subject without 
recurring once more to the doctrine that forms the 
basis of all I have to say in this treatise ; namely, that it 
is of little use to try to teach pupils to manipulate stuff 
which they have no natural aptitude for handling. The 
simple truth is that only such manipulation as can be 
carried on with clear and intelligent thought on the part 
of the manipulator is of real value as an educative force, 
or as a former of character. And along lines where 
there is little or no native ability, it is practically im- 
possible to secure definite, clearly defined thinking — 
certainly nothing fresh and original and which will be 
of real benefit to the individual doing the work, and to 
the community of which he is a part. 

Of course the reader will take into account the fact 
that native abilities do not always all reveal themselves 
at once in the lives of some individuals, as I have more 



MANIPULATION 293 

than once declared in what I have already said. Some- 
times they do not appear till manhood is fully attained, 
so far as years are concerned. My point is, that it is 
not wise to try to develop manipulative power where no 
native ability is manifest. If such ability appear soon 
or late, make the most of it, but do not make a pupil 
" go through the motions " where there are no signs of 
such ability. 

And, withal, every teacher should make a most earnest 
effort to exploit manipulative ability that has stuff in it. 
When a girl is taught chiefly how to manipulate a fan, 
or to do the conventional thing in society, she is not 
being fairly dealt with, so far as her education is con- 
cerned. When a boy is taught how to be a dandy, and 
to spend money regardless, in a word, to be ** a good 
fellow," he is sinned against by those who plan his 
education on such lines, or who allow him to do so. 
The fan may be a woman's weapon, and Chesterfieldian 
manners doubtless have their place, to a degree, among 
truly well-bred men; but merely these, and little or 
nothing besides, make a poor outfit for a successful 
American citizen. Grace in women and polite bearing 
on the part of men are items by no means to be left 
out of the account. It is only when they are given 
undue prominence, that makes them conspicuous rather 
than subsidiary, that fault should be found in this 
regard. Common sense and not conventionality, the 
spirit and not the letter, will keep us right here, as 
elsewhere, always. 

All of which means that ** vocational" studies, rather 
than merely "cultural " studies, as such, should form the 
bulk of the training given to all the children of all the 
people, in our public schools. 



CHAPTER XXXII 

READING AND LITERATURE 

The Art of Reading — Different Methods of Acquiring the Art 
compared — Psychological Phase of the Subject — Silent Read- 
ing and Vocal Reading — Definition of Literature — The Winnow- 
ing-Fan of such Definition — The Mission of Language — History, 
Fossils, and Mummies — Monarchical Literature — " Passed for 
us" — Distinction between Themes — The Teaching of Litera- 
ture in View of these Facts — College Entrance Demands regard- 
ing Literature — The Real Mission of Teaching Literature in the 
Public Schools — What Teachers of Literature in these Schools 
should try to do — Democratic Literature — " To Let " on Par- 
nassus — Querulous Critics — The Kind of Literary Seed to be 
Sown in the Public Schools — Proofs of Real Literary Knowledge 
and Ability. 

The matter of the manipulation of books, briefly noted 
in the last chapter, naturally leads to a discussion of 
what such work is chiefly for; namely, the securing of a 
knowledge of literature through the medium of reading. 
Reading comes first in this discussion, and hence a few 
words regarding it. I cannot treat fully of the methods 
of acquiring a mastery of the art of reading, but I can 
note a few leading and significant principles which cover 
the whole ground. 

The first acquirement to be gained in order that one 
may be a successful reader, in the largest sense of that 
phrase, is such mechanical mastery (manipulation) of 
the art of gathering words off the page with the eye 
that there shall be no conscious effort in the act. 

294 



READING AND LITERATURE 295 

Of course, my critic may contend that if one does not 
comprehend the meaning of the words thus gathered by 
the eye, such reading is in vain. Which is correct. 
But the point I want to make is, that this mechanical 
act comes first in the natural order of the process of 
reading, and until it is mastered, little progress can else- 
where be made ; and that this fact has often been ig- 
nored, or lost sight of, in the teaching of the art. Thus, 
of late years, it seems to me too much stress has been 
laid upon the " thought content " of what was read, to 
the exclusion of the business of getting the words off 
the page with neatness and dispatch. This criticism 
applies almost entirely to the lower grades, where the 
fault is most in evidence. In much of the reading work 
done in these grades, more attention has, of late years, 
been paid to " analysis " of what is read than to gather- 
ing the words with the eye. I cannot believe this to be 
either wise or right. 

The way to learn to read is to read, and to keep doing 
it. In psychological phrase, the mechanical act must 
be so mastered that it can be relegated to the sub- 
conscious self before that part of the art of reading is a 
success. And when that work is brought to such per- 
fection that it will " do itself," then one has all of his 
mind free to think of what one is reading about. That 
is the true philosophy of the art of successful reading. 

If you doubt this statement, try to read some very 
blind piece of handwriting, upon which you have to 
spend much time and energy, giving the text your 
closest attention, and see how much of the " thought 
content" of the same you are able to gather as you 
read. There is not enough of your mind, so to speak, 
to do both things at once. And this is always the case 



296 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

where it is hard work to master the mechanical work of 
reading. There can be no successful gathering of the 
thought which words are set to convey until one can 
easily manipulate the words themselves. 

(I hardly need say that it is only silent reading that I 
am speaking of here ; namely, the art of gathering the 
thought of the author from the printed page. Oral 
reading, with its adjunct of elocution, is a most interest- 
ing theme, but it is too far afield for me to consider in 
these pages. On these topics "there has been so much 
said, and on the whole so well said, that I will not occupy 
space, etc.") 

The work to be done in learning the mechanical part 
of reading is akin to the " finger exercise " of the piano 
player. It is largely a matter of physical dexterity, of 
technique, if you will, and there is only one way of ac- 
quiring it for most people, — namely, by continual and 
unintermitting practice. So our pupils in school need to 
read, read, read, and so they will acquire the mechanical 
ability to manipulate books. That is, most of them will. 

Of course, all the while they are doing this they can 
be practicing on reading that is worthy their time and 
attention. No finger exercise is to be practiced merely 
for its own sake. No reading should be required from 
a pupil merely as an eye gymnastic. The point is clear 
for those who have eyes to see. 

And as one masters the mechanical part of reading, a 
knowledge of literature grows apace if the work is done 
as it should be. But here guiding posts need to be set 
up, and directive lines run — a few at least. 

When the pupil begins the study of literature, as such 
(and even before that), it is essential that both he and 
his teacher should have a clear conception of what 



READING AND LITERATURE 



297 



literature really is, and then of what they are going to 
do about it. 

What do you think literature is ? I wish you would 
try to define it. I have tried, and here is the result of 
my effort. 

Literature, that is worth while, is a record of those ex- 
periences and those ideals of humanity that are of suffi- 
cient value to make them worthy of being perpetuated ; 
and it is the business of the study and teaching of litera- 
ture in our public schools to make the future experiences 
and the ideals of humanity better than the experiences 
and the ideals of the past have ever been. 

I am well aware that this definition of literature and 
of its purpose as an educative factor in our public 
schools will be deemed far too utilitarian by many who 
read these lines. But my notion is that this judgment 
will not be lasting, and that the more the subject is 
considered from this viewpoint, the clearer the truth 
will appear. 

Because, the fact is that there have been an infinite 
number of fallacies held in the past on this subject of 
literature, and its mission to mankind. For the most 
part, these may all be massed in a single group ; and 
all the wrong-goings, both in the making and accepting 
of literature, so called, may be summed up on this one 
change, namely, the counting of form as substance, the 
mistaking of a graven image for the living spirit of God. 

What mountains of alleged literature are plucked up 
and cast into the sea of oblivion by such an analysis ! 
What multitudes of its makers are engulfed at the same 
time, and how they all sink out of sight together ! All 
the sticklers for mere form, all the copyists and imita- 
tors, all the writers of words for words' sake, all the 



298 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

inventors of high-sounding phrases which have been 
reckoned great only because of their sonority, all the 
word painters whose chief aim it has been to startle or 
astound, all the " retailers of platitudes delivered in an 
orotund voice" — all of these, and of those like them, 
are swept away so that the places that once knew them 
will know them no more forever. 

All of which means that art for art's sake, so far as 
literature is concerned, is a fraud, that is, counting 
this phrase as it is ordinarily understood, namely, the 
formulating of anything, with no purpose beyond that 
of the form of the thing formed. Language was in- 
tended to express ideas, and whenever it is diverted 
from such purpose it is misused, not to say abused. So 
the men who talk when they have nothing to say, or 
who write merely to fill columns, are not making litera- 
ture ; and it is a sin to make people waste time listening 
to the first, or reading what the second have set down, 
merely spoiling clean white paper thereby. 

Again, there is ever so much that has been written and 
said in the past that has served its time, has had its day, 
and so is no longer of worth to humanity, except as a 
curiosity, or as a relic. As such, it may be of brief in- 
terest, just as mummies and fossils have a certain his- 
torical value. And for such purpose there can be no valid 
objection to their preservation and use. But, beyond 
this, they should not be permitted to have a place in the 
working outfit of modern life. Their sphere is in mu- 
seums and curiosity shops. They have reached the realm 
of the " has-beens " ; they are virtually dead, and for the 
most part the dead should be buried. The grave is a 
very useful institution in this world, and it is not kind to 
any one too long to deprive it of its dues. 



READING AND LITERATURE 299 

This is why the great bulk of monarchical literature is 
fast passing away as a living force in human society. 
Shakespeare's plays, those that have to do chiefly with 
royalty, are no longer popular upon the boards, not be- 
cause we have no actors great enough to present them, 
but because the spirit of democracy has taken such a hold 
upon the minds of the people of to-day that they have 
lost interest in what happened to kings and queens, as 
such, in the days gone by. 

Not but that Shakespeare most successfully did his 
work in depicting royalty. There is no question about 
that, or about his great art in doing what he did. What 
he wrote was once great literature. Both as to form 
and in spirit he made a most perfect record of the ex- 
periences and ideals of the royalty he dealt with. The 
only trouble is that many of the experiences and ideals 
he depicted are no longer worthy of being perpetuated ; 
they can no longer be made to serve in making the 
experiences and ideals of democratic humanity, now and 
yet to be, better than those of monarchical humanity 
once were. That is the crux of the whole situation. 

These themes of Shakespeare have " lived their little 
day." 

" Passed, passed for us, forever passed, that once so mighty world. 
Now void, inanimate, phantom world. 
Embroidered, dazzling, foreign world, with all its gorgeous legends, 

myths, 
Its kings and castles proud, its priests and warlike lords and 

courtly dames, 
Passed to its charnel vault, coffined with crown and armor on, 
Blazoned by Shakespeare's purple page, 
And dirged by Tennyson's sweet sad rhyme." 

This is not saying that Shakespeare and Tennyson 
have "forever passed." There is much in them both 



300 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

that will still abide. Their style will remain, although 
that on which much of that style was exploited has 
passed away. There is also a large amount of their 
subject matter that is still alive. Wherever these men 
wrote of the fundamental issues which are common to 
all races and all peoples, in all times and everywhere, 
they struck chords that will never cease to vibrate while 
the world endures, and the style they used in exploiting 
these themes will never perish from off the earth. 

Therefore there are distinctions among themes, in 
the writings of both these men, that should always be 
held in mind by those who would utilize, for all the 
children of all the people, the experiences and ideals 
that these authors have made a record of. The prin- 
ciples involved in the issue are very simple, and they 
are all plain to him that understandeth. All of Shake- 
speare, or Tennyson, or any other authors, that can be 
of use in making better men and women than have ever 
yet been — all these things are of value, and will con- 
tinue to be valuable just as long as they can successfully 
accomplish the work whereunto they are sent. Beyond 
that they are of little use, save as relics. For art's sake 
alone they are of small value. So long as they can 
help in making a finer and grander humanity they will 
live, and justly so. 

These principles apply to the makers of literature 
and their product in all ages and climes, and they need 
to be kept especially in mind by all teachers of literature, 
particularly those who have to deal with the children of 
all the people. Bring any author, or his work, to this 
test, and judgment will not be long delayed. The 
question that every teacher of literature should con- 
stantly keep in mind is : Will a knowledge of what I am 



READING AND LITERATURE 301 

trying to impart make the experiences and the ideals of 
my pupils better than they would otherwise be ? When- 
ever a teacher can honestly say yes to such an interro- 
gation, there is no danger of going wrong in the work 
done in the literature class, and it is a comparatively 
small affair whence comes the subject matter of their 
teaching. 

On the contrary, if the teacher of literature is forced 
to confess, " I fail to see what good can come from the 
instructions I give," then, indeed, is her lot a hard 
one, and that of her pupils is harder still. I wish I 
need not say it, but I am forced to record that, in all 
my observations, I have found few teachers of literature 
who have not made the above quoted confession. As 
a rule, teachers of literature in our public schools teach 
the pages of literary matter that are required by college 
entrance examinations. This they are forced to do 
by the system they work under, and over which they 
have no control. In large part, the work they are 
forced to do consists in compelling their pupils to mem- 
orize the names of authors and what books they have 
written, with dates to match. Perhaps a few excerpts 
from each author are read, but the author-book-and-date- 
lists are so numerous and extended, and committing 
them to memory is such an arduous task, that there 
is time for little else. 

Can any one tell how such work as this will make the 
experiences and ideals of those who do this drudgery 
better than they would otherwise be .'' The question is 
fair, and pertinent, and it ought to be answered. 

There is no more powerful influence for good that 
can be brought to bear upon a pupil than can come 
through the proper study of literature. To teach a 



302 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

child to love books, to know authors (just a few, per- 
haps, and these not necessarily the same for any two 
pupils) through and through, is a work that angels 
might envy. The living voice perishes, but the printed 
page remains. And to lead a pupil to get out of books 
what living and loving souls have put into them, to teach 
boys and girls so that books shall be their dearest friends 
— this is something worth while, this is what makes 
the teaching of literature an art filled with divine 
possibilities. 

And the first requisite for the attainment of such 
results is that the teacher love the literature that 
she tries to teach. Emerson says that " he only can 
give who has," and if a teacher has no love for the 
literature she tries to give her pupils a knowledge of, 
she cannot succeed in getting them to love it. And 
unless they love it, all the work they do in it amounts to 
little or nothing. It is all a study of " words, words," 
as Hamlet has it, and these are as useless to the pupil 
as those on the page before him were to the Prince of 
Denmark. 

There is all the difference between life and death in 
the two ways of teaching and pursuing this study. One 
way, there are live human beings, with hearts that 
pulsate with warm red blood, and whose souls shine 
through speaking eyes. The other way there are 
corpses. The teacher who can teach the literature she 
herself loves will lead her pupils into the living way. 
Those teachers who pursue cyclopedic methods will drive 
their pupils through literary graveyards. 

The result of all study and teaching of literature 
should be to inspire the student along the lines of what 
is revealed in the literature studied and taught. No 



READING AND LITERATURE 



303 



book read, no poem conned, should stop with itself. 
They should all "continue beyond." They should give 
to the student power '' to make for himself poems, essays, 
histories," or whatsoever. And this should be some- 
thing far and away beyond mere imitation. Both pupil 
and teacher should ever keep in mind that " Rhymes 
and rhymers pass away," and that " poems distilled from 
poems " count for naught. Need it be said that such 
results can never come from repeating what is in a text- 
book, be the same never so good.-* Nor can they be 
reached by any teacher who teaches only what literature 
she is required to teach by the course. 

Again, it needs to be said that the literature taught to 
all the children of all the people must be democratic, 
both in form and in spirit. Truly, our teachers and 
pupils need to heed the lines : — 

" Come, Muse, migrate from Greece and Ionia ; 
Cross out, please, those immensely over-paid accounts. 
On the rocks of your snowy Parnassus 
Placard ' removed ' and ' to let.' " 

Good ! But when will our teachers and pupils be per- 
mitted to heed the suggestion ? Parnassus was good in 
its day, and much of what it stood for has been trans- 
lated into current language and philosophy ; but Par- 
nassus for its own sake can be excused, for the most 
part, from the curricula of the major part of all the 
children of all the people. 

Then, too, there is danger that the teaching of litera- 
ture, upon formal lines, will make mere querulous critics 
of our students. How often have we seen this ! Only 
to-day a mother said to me, when speaking of her son 
who was away at school : " I have gotten so that I al- 
most hesitate to write letters to my boy, for he keeps 



304 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

coming back at me with nagging criticism of my letters 
to him." Surely, the teaching of literature which thus 
results is wide of the mark. The point is really too con- 
temptible to be worthy of notice, and my only reason for 
mentioning it is that it is so shamefully common. " Re- 
form it altogether," ye teachers of this sort. 

Beyond question, the future success of this republic is 
dependent on the literature it shall produce. If this is 
live, strong, far-reaching, and deep-descending, of a qual- 
ity that touches the hearts of the masses and stimu- 
lates them to the best there is in themselves, anywhere, 
everywhere, then this nation is safe, and it will grow in 
the right way, continually. It is in our public schools that 
the seed that will produce such literature must be sown ; 
and this seed must be of a sort that will take root and 
grow in the hearts of all the children of all the people, 
and bear fruit in their lives as citizens of this republic. 
Nothing less will serve. 

Here, then, teacher, pupil, is the test to bring to all study 
and teaching of literature in our public schools : Will it 
serve on these strong and fundamental lines that pertain 
to successful citizenship ? If what you study or teach 
will do this, it is well, and no one will care to ask further 
questions. But if not, then stop taking public money 
for your work, which is of no pubhc use. Work for a 
merely selfish end if you choose to do so, but be honest 
enough not to make the general fund support you. 

What our public schools need, in the matter of teach- 
ing literature, is that the teachers be freed from the 
bondage that now holds them in its thralldom. There is 
scarce a teacher now engaged in this special work who 
could not, and who would not, do most excellent service 
in her peculiar calling if she could be permitted to teach 



READING AND LITERATURE 



305 



what literature she loves to teach, rather than what she 
is compelled to teach in order to serve a purpose that is 
really foreign to her undertaking and desire. 

But, it is said, there must be some standard ; we must 
have some common work, or how shall we know what 
to examine our pupils in ? Nonsense ! Why should I 
be compelled to post myself so that I may answer your 
questions? Why not you answer mine? Why should 
the boy who stands before the professor to be examined 
in literature be forced to give proof of a knowledge of 
books that the professor is learned in ? Give the boy a 
chance to tell what he knows about books, any books 
that he has read, and of which he can speak, and it is 
easy enough to make up one's mind as to his abilities 
to do future work. It is the tyranny of the powers 
that be, and not a lack of receptive power on the part 
of pupils, that retards the true study of literature in our 
public schools. And let such be anathema ! Let there 
be a democracy in the study and love of real literature 
among all the children of all the people, and so will the 
procession, all of it, move on. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

SOME THINGS ABOUT METHODS 

A Little at a Time and Slow — Practical Test advised for Each 
Reader once more — Author's Experience — Personally paying 
for Failures to really teach — " Hands off ! " — Original Methods 
the Test of the Power of the True Teacher — Such Methods to be 
encouraged in all Teachers — Concrete Case cited — The Real 
Mission of Method — Lack of Faith in ourselves the Trouble 
here — The Voice of God in our own Souls — The Proper Use 
of " Authorities " — The Court of Final Appeal. 

So much has been written and said upon the subject 
of methods in teaching that one hesitates to add even a 
straw to the burden now on the camel's back, which is 
already well-nigh broken with its load. And yet I can- 
not refrain from piling my forkful on the top of all. 
But this shall be general, and not particular; and so, 
perhaps, it will prove to be less weighty. 

The chief word that I want to say on this subject I 
phrase in the vernacular as follows : " Don't give it to 
the children too fast." It is by disregarding this simple 
principle of pedagogy that more poor teaching is done 
than in any other one way that I know anything about. 

Any teacher can be brought to realize this fact by 
trying to teach a pupil to do some concrete thing that 
must be done just right in order to be successful at all. 
For instance, suppose you try to teach some one (any one 
will do) how to tie a square knot with a string, and to 
do it right, every time. Try that, some day, and watch 

306 



SOME THINGS ABOUT METHODS 307 

your process, if you succeed in getting good results. 
Yes, watch your process, anyhow. 

Or, what is a better test still — far better — take a 
class of a dozen or so and try to teach them, all at the 
same time, how to tie a square knot, and see how you 
will succeed. Watch your process there, too. 

This experiment will reveal to you your shortcomings 
as to methods in teaching better than anything I have 
ever tried. If you can take a class of twelve children 
who do not know how to tie a square knot, and at a 
single lesson get half of them so that they can tie such 
a knot right, every time, you are a wonderful teacher. 
And your trial will show you the necessity of definite- 
ness of direction and slowness of procedure as you 
never saw it before, or I am greatly mistaken. 

We tell our pupils too many different things at once, 
and so muddle them. This begets in them the habit of 
trying to do what they only partly understand how to 
do, makes them indefinite in their actions, uncertain in 
their purposes, and untruthful in their work. And all 
this is bad. 

I learned this lesson of "not too fast" or "not too 
much at once " when I was in a factory that I once 
owned and operated. We employed a large number 
of boys in the mill, and they all had to be taught to 
operate the machines they had to handle, so as to get 
good work out of them. Unless they did this success- 
fully, they ruined the lumber they put through the 
machines, and all that they spoiled I had to pay for ! 
And it was a marvel how much they could spoil, till I 
learned how to teach them as they needed to be taught 
in order to get good results. Nor was it till my book- 
keeper showed me a balance sheet that proved how we 



3o8 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

were losing money, that I began to study my methods 
and to see right where the trouble lay. Such study 
showed me that the loss was nearly all my own fault. 
I had not taught the boys well how to do their work. 
I had given it to them too fast, and too much at a time; 
and they were a lot of slouchy workmen, turning out 
imperfect work, the loss on which came out of my 
pocketbook. 

If all teachers had to pay for their failures to teach 
well, out of their own pockets, we should have far better 
work done in our schoolrooms than we now have. The 
pocketbook nerve is very sensitive to losses, and it has 
a way of demanding a repair of leaks that is very salu- 
tary. Try teaching some concrete thing, to some one 
whose failure to arrive will cost you money, and then you 
will learn the chief things that pertain to " methods " in 
teaching. 

And on the heels of this comes the direction " hands 
off ! " Ah ! That is the hardest of all. It is so much 
easier to do a thing ourselves than it is to teach some 
one else how to do it, that we are all apt — so apt — to 
take things into our own hands and settle it that way. 
But this is all wrong. Hands off! Not till you can 
teach with your hands tied — I could almost say with 
your tongue tied — will you be a first-class teacher. 

I saw some excellent examples of "hands off" work 
in a manual training school I visited a short time ago. 
The teacher stood at his desk and told the boys what — 
just what — to do. He gave his directions with the 
utmost explicitness, in simple language that every pupil 
could comprehend, and he gave them but one at a 
time. More than that, he was sure that every pupil 
in his class had done exactly what he was told to 



SOME THINGS ABOUT METHODS 309 

do, just as he was told to do it, before he proceeded 
to the next step. 

And it did require so much patience and such careful 
telling to get these results from all the pupils ! I stood 
by, and it was such a trial to me to keep my own hands 
off. A boy near me was so awkward. I am sure there 
was no possible wrong way that he did not blunder into 
before he got the right way the teacher was trying for. 
But he finally got it. And he got it himself. That's 
the point. And so he could get it again, the next time. 

And I was once in a class in German where there was 
never to be a word of English spoken, come what might. 
There came up a new word in the lesson, which no 
pupil knew the meaning of. And it would have been 
so easy for the teacher to turn her EngHsh tongue 
loose, and tell her pupils the meaning. But, bless 
her dear life, she knew enough to keep her English 
tongue tied. And with what little German her pupils 
were masters of (for it was a " beginning class ") she 
went to work to get to them the idea which the new 
word was set to convey. And if you could have seen 
that class, all with knitted brows, and eyes focused on 
the teacher as she talked to them in German, you would 
have learned a great lesson in pedagogy, in this matter of 
keeping hands off. But she won, did this teacher ; and 
when she did, her class knew something. How easy it 
would have been to have said, " Look it up." Bah ! 

The art of manipulation cannot be acquired by having 
some one else move your hands for you. You must move 
them yourself. That is God's way of teaching how to 
do things. The wise teacher will make note of this and 
act accordingly. 

Hands off ! 



3IO ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

Another cautionary word needs to be said regarding 
the different ways of treating different pupils in the 
same class or grade. A concrete instance will illustrate 
what I mean. I once saw a class in arithmetic working 
on the subject of subtraction. The teacher was putting 
forth her every energy to have her pupils master the 
principle of " borrowing," and they were doing their best 
to follow as she led. But in spite of all she could do 
there were some members of the class who could not 
grasp the philosophy of what was done. She was an 
excellent teacher, full of resources, and apt in illustra- 
tion, and she did her best ; but it all went for nothing 
with the " slow ones." 

After the class was dismissed we talked it over, and 
presently I said : *' Why not tell these helpless ones 
just what specific thing to do in order to obtain the re- 
sult, and let it go at that, so far as these ptipils are con- 
cerned T 

"I'll try it," the teacher said. And she did. She 
asked the "shorts" to stay after school with her a few 
minutes (not to disgrace them, but for help), and then I 
watched to see what she would do. And here is what 
she did : She took a not-too-hard problem, to start on, 
and said : " Now when the top figure is less than the 
bottom one, call the top one ten more than it really is ; 
then take the bottom one away from this bigger number, 
and write the difference in the same column, under them. 
Then call the next lower figure at the left one more than 
it is, subtract it from the figure over it, and set down the 
answer, and so on." 

When she gave this last direction, namely, to call the 
next left-hand lower figure one more, she looked at me 
with a sort of reckless, I-don't-care-if-you-are-here wink, 



SOME THINGS ABOUT METHODS 31I 

and whispered, under her breath, "That's the way I 
always do myself, and it works all right! " and went ahead 
with her work. And then, mirabile dictUy in ten minutes 
from that time, after working faithfully with the boys 
with this method, she had those pupils actually subtract- 
ing and getting correct answers, every time. The children 
were so astonished they hardly knew themselves, and they 
left the schoolroom kicking up their heels with delight. 
I watched them, and saw them stop at the first corner, 
sit down on the curbstone, and together try a problem, 
all by themselves. Doubtless they were curious to see if 
the plan would work away from the schoolhouse. I am 
sure they found it would. 

Does any one object to this ? No sensible soul will do 
so. Not that I would advocate this method of teaching 
subtraction to all children. For those who can compre- 
hend the analysis of the process, such work is good. 
But for those who cannot, the " easy way " is far better 
than none. The method this teacher used, in this case, 
involves a principle that goes a long way in the practical 
work done in the schoolroom. Far better is it that these 
slow ones should go home happy, and able to do something, 
than that they should leave their schoolroom discouraged, 
or perhaps disgraced, and so generally "at outs" with 
what they were asked to do that they will hardly even 
try to do anything at all. 

And so, in point of fact, this matter of method resolves 
itself into a very simple proposition, namely, to do for 
each pupil what the needs of each pupil require should 
be done, using our best endeavors to find out just what 
these needs are, and the utmost of our ingenuity to meet 
the requirements which the situation calls for. The 
teacher who will work by such method will teach, if she 



312 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

has any aptitude for the calHng. If she hasn't, she ought 
not to be tolerated in the schoolroom, no matter what 
method she may use, or where she may have acquired 
it. The teacher who has to "consult the authorities," 
for every move she makes, who " has no head of her 
own " for her work, had better try some other calling. 
She ought not to be permitted to teach in our public 
schools, no matter how many diplomas she may be 
possessed of, or how fine a written examination she can 
pass. 

There can be no itemized method of pedagogy that 
will be of universal application to all the children of all 
the people. We can all get " helps and hints " from a 
thousand and one sources. But the whole business can 
never be put into a book, neither can it be gotten out 
of a book. Here is a place where manipulation can 
only be partially transmitted. The ultimate art must 
be individually acquired, and personally exercised ; 
and neither acquirement nor exercise can be obtained 
without practice upon the real thing, with flesh and 
blood children, in an actual schoolroom. That is the 
final word about methods in teaching. 

Any method that can be used as a servant to both 
teacher and pupil is good, just so long as it knows its 
place, and will keep it. Any method is bad, no matter 
where it has come from, no odds who originated it, if it 
becomes a master, and holds its user in bondage. And 
here is where teachers should arrive through their own 
inspiration. Here is where they should prove them- 
selves greater than any or all " authorities," and should 
stand in their own strength, sufficient unto themselves, 
and to the work that is given into their own hands. 
Well did Jesus say " call no man master," and there is 



SOME THINGS ABOUT METHODS 



313 



no place where His words are more forceful than to a 
teacher in a schoolroom. 

The chief trouble with us all, on this score, is that we 
have been unwilling, or afraid, to do our own work in 
our own way. It has been too much bother for us to 
worship God with our own work, as we know we ought 
to ; and it is so much easier for us to bow down to some 
man-made or system-made idol that we can easily get 
next to, than it is to work out our own salvation with 
fear and trembling. There is the rub. We have put 
our faith in textbooks, and in professors of this or that, 
and in the dicta of Associations, and in what those in 
authority have said when in conventions assembled — 
in all these things, rather than in the voice of God in 
otir own souls ! And therein lies the essential cause of 
most failures to teach school well, or to be possessed of 
methods that will really result in first-class work. 

All these authorities, etc., are good as means. They 
are worthless as ultimates. The true student of methods 
of pedagogy will forage over the whole field of the 
experiences and ideals of other teachers ; will listen to 
them all, and note well what they say, will observe them 
all and note well what they do. Then, gently, but with 
undeniable will, he will free himself from all bonds 
that would hold him, and teach as his own soul tells 
him he ought to. It takes nerve to do this, but it 
is done. I have seen it done more than once; yes, 
many times. What we need ' is to have it the rule 
rather then the exception. 

Here endeth, then, the chapter on methods. You 
can make them for yourself. No one can make them 
for you. Others can suggest, and perhaps direct, but 
you must ultimately settle the business for yourself. 



314 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

The only question is, will you do it ? If you try it, be 
wise and not foolish in your doing. Don't be a narrow 
bigot in the premises, and make your bigotry an excuse 
for doing just as you please, regardless of everything 
and everybody. That is far worse than merely follow- 
ing a leader. The proof of the worth of your methods 
(and they must be brought to the trial) is your success 
in keeping all the children in your school, and in doing 
the best possible work for each one of them while they 
are there. If you can do that, your methods are good, 
no matter where they have come from. If you fail to 
do this, your methods are faulty. There is no appeal 
from this conclusion. God is the judge, and there is no 
higher court. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

MORALS AND RELIGION 

The Jungle this Theme leads into — Morals easier to agree upon 
than Religion, in the Public Schools — Coeducation — Social 
Mingling in the Public Schoolrooms — The Blessing to Democracy 
of Such Fact — Sectarianism and Proselyting no Place in Schools 
for all the Children of all the People — The Love of Righteous- 
ness — " He maketh all Things by Number " — Horace Mann on 
the Purpose of Democratic Education — How School Work can 
Foster all these Things — A " Square Deal " possible here — 
Where Unfairness creeps in — The Bible in the Public Schools — 
Some Suggestions on this Point — Special Work for the N. E. A. 

— Denominational Hymns no Place in Public School Singing 

— How the Jungle may be made a Highway fit for All to travel 
in with Profit and Joy — "Vital Religious Fire" the Real Fusing 
Element for Democracy. 

I AM well aware that I am entering a jungle of thought 
and feeling when I set out to say even a few words about 
morals and religion in our public schools. Concerning 
the first, the way is open and fairly well trod for a space ; 
but regarding the second, there is largely undergrowth 
and tangle where some day there will be a royal road to 
God. If I can help, just a little, in making a prelimi- 
nary survey for such a pubhc highway on these two sub- 
jects, one which all the children of all the people can 
travel in, I should be glad and thankful beyond all telling. 

In both these matters, the underlying principle is as 
simple as all great basic motive forces always are. The 
main issue is what will make good citizens of all the 
children of all the people. Whatever will do this has a 

315 



3l6 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

rightful place in our public schools, both as regards 
morals, and, equally so, as regards religion. The only 
pinch comes when we attempt to consider what the spe- 
cific things are that will bring about the desired results. 
There is where we quarrel and part company, so many 
of us. There is where all the friction arises. These are 
the things that obstruct the way and make the whole 
subject a jangle of discord and distrust, rather than a 
place of harmony and good faith. 

But now, is it not possible for people who dwell to- 
gether in love in so many other ways and places, to come 
under the same spirit in these regards ? It surely seems 
as though it ought to be so. Anyhow, let us reason to- 
gether over the situation for a few pages, and then see. 

In the matter of morals in school there is not very 
much lack of agreement. There are still some parents 
who rebel if their children are " made to mind " in 
school, but these are so few and far between that they 
are hardly a recognizable factor in the problem. For 
the most part, our people recognize the fact that obedi- 
ence to rightful control is a fundamental quahty in a 
good citizen, and hence they stand for the cultivation of 
this virtue in our public schools. So far, so good. 

There are also some people who are anxious about 
the coeducation issue, who suspect the results which 
they fear may come from having boys and girls go to 
the same school. This feature is chiefly in evidence in 
cities, especially in those in which there is a considerable 
constituency that has high regard for conventional 
ideas having their roots among the aristocracy across 
the water. Among these, the medieval notion prevails 
that sex is something of a mistake, at best, and that the 
error should be hidden from knowledge, as far as pos- 



MORALS AND RELIGION 



317 



sible, especially amongst girls. They ostensibly hold 
to the her-soul-was-like-a-star-and-dwelt-apart idea, the 
ignorance-is-bliss theory, for femininity. In some circles 
this cult is growing in this country, manifesting itself 
in the genesis of the chaperon, a creature who was a 
stranger to our fathers and mothers, who "sparked" 
unwatched, and were blameless ! 

However, these need give us but small concern. 
God's eternal laws do not suffer to any great extent, or 
for long, at the hands of society's peccadillos. " Male 
and female created he them," and there was no mistake 
in the act. That is the way things are, and they will 
stay so. Boys and girls are born into the same family, 
and it requires men and women, both, to make a suc- 
cessful civilization. 

To be sure, there may be room for experiment as to 
whether it is wise and best for boys and girls to pursue 
the same studies in school ; but that can all be provided 
for under the new order of " electives " in our schools. 
But the individuals of each sex need the modifying, re- 
straining, stimulating, and truly spiritualizing influences 
of their opposites, during the growing years of their 
lives in school. Of this there can be no doubt, in the 
eternal order of things. 

Then there is the question of permitting, or forcing, 
children of all social grades to mingle together in the 
same school. The moral results of such community are 
not infrequently challenged by those who are counted 
as " our best people." And that there are some serious 
issues involved, just here, is not to be denied. But, as 
a matter of fact, the dangers are few, and the possible 
benefits to all parties concerned are as many as they 
are great. 



3l8 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

As an exterminator of the class microbe, the pubUc 
school has no equal. Or, to change the figure, the 
public school is the womb of genuine democracy ; the 
fruitful soil which brings forth bountiful crops of true 
brotherhood and enduring fraternity. It is not a 
leveler, but a builder-up of all parties concerned. It 
cuts out the cancers of conceit that tend to destroy the 
vitality and virility of wealth and aristocracy; and it 
burns away the plague-spots of prejudice and hatred 
that are so deeply rooted in the body of the rank and 
file. It plants healthy love and wholesome respect for 
all in the hearts of all the children of all the people, 
and as a social force, for the estabhshment of a civiliza- 
tion based on the eternal principles of truth and justice, 
the world has never seen its equal. 

And these are the things that must never be forgotten ; 
nay, that must be emphasized, in all our estimates of 
the real value of our public schools. All criticisms re- 
garding their faults, either as they have been or as they 
now are, should be tempered, and modified, and in large 
measure excused, by our acknowledgment of the inesti- 
mable blessing they have already proved themselves to 
be as makers of democracy. All their past and present 
shortcomings are as nothing when compared with the 
great results they have yielded, on the lines of good 
fellowship and love, amongst all classes of people. 
There is not one who reads these lines who cannot 
verify the truth of this, in his or her own life. Think 
of the men and women, in all ranks of life, whom you 
now hold in high esteem because of the knowledge of 
them that you gained in the public school. 

And whatever modifications we make in these schools, 
let them be by way of intensifying their democracy, of 



MORALS AND RELIGION 319 

broadening their power to make friends and lovers of 
all who enter their doors. Let us plan to make them 
include rather than exclude ; to gather all and to reject 
none; and to be able and fit to do all this with the 
utmost success, for the best interest of all and each. 
For so shall our schools become a moral force that shall 
be worthy the financial and patriotic support of every 
citizen, without exception. 

A resident of New York City once said to me : " Go 
down to the lower end and see what we do for the boys 
and girls down there. We take them in by the ship- 
load, when they don't know a word of English, and in 
six months we have them singing the * Star Spangled 
Banner ' to beat the band ! " He was right. And he 
might have gone on to say that if you would follow 
these same children up through the schools, you would 
presently find that you could hardly tell them from the 
''native born" — those who stayed by till they got 
through the high school. Their twelve years of dis- 
cipline in this institution (which some one has called the 
great American stomach) have digested them and trans- 
formed the product into blood, bone, fiber, and spirit 
such as good citizens are made of. A single genera- 
tion wipes out almost the last vestige of the " foreign " 
in all such cases, and their children are Americans, all, 
henceforth. The pity is that so few of them stay twelve 
years in the public school. But this fault is mending, 
day by day. 

So, on the moral issue, we are doing well. We need 
to do as well on the religious. The reason we have 
failed to do so, thus far, is because of our narrowness 
— not to say bigotry, to be frank about it. We are so 
sure that we are right and that all others must be wrong 



320 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

in matters of religion, that we are uncharitable, and not 
infrequently unjust; sometimes overbearing, and occa- 
sionally tyrannical. It is not pleasant to say this, but 
let the truth be told. 

And it is because of these things, which all religious 
sects, and those who claim to be not religious at all, are 
more or less guilty of, that we get into trouble. If we 
were not all so anxious to proselyte, and to compel 
everybody to come our way, we should get along well 
enough. If we were as willing to allow our brothers 
and sisters under the flag religious liberty in our schools 
as great as the political freedom that we give them in 
the state, there would be very little cause for complaint 
No teacher ever asks whether a child is of democratic, 
republican, or mugwump parentage. No teacher would 
be permitted to teach the tenets of any special political 
party in school. But this does not bar the teaching of 
patriotism, of devotion to the flag, and of love for what 
it stands for. 

Now can we not be equally broad-minded and fair in 
the realm of religion ? There are certain basic princi- 
ples that are common to all religions, just as there are 
certain patriotic elements that all political p'arties hold 
in common. Why not unite on these, and teach them 
to our children, and then let them differentiate on the 
holdings of sects, isms, and doxies, later on } 

What are these items in common, rehgiously speak- 
ing.? some one asks. All I can do is to answer as it 
seems to me, which I am glad to do, to the best of my 
ability. 

I think that a love of righteousness, and an honest 
attempt to attain it, in all the affairs of life, pretty nearly 
covers the whole ground. Surely there is no form of 



MORALS AND RELIGION 



321 



religion which ought not to include at least so much ; 
and, given this, with all it implies, we have a good 
foundation for anything special, or particular, that may 
be added to it, in any or all religions. All the religious 
teachers that I know anything about agree on this ; and 
if we could bring all the children of all the people to 
love it, and lead them to strive, with all their might, to 
attain to this standard, I am sure we should have a 
citizenship that would get along pretty well, religiously 
and all other ways, come what might. 

My notion is, then, that we can teach at least so 
much of religion in our public schools, with good results 
for all, and with bad results to none. And with this as 
a basis, let the various sects build thereon, as they can, 
or may. 

What do I mean by righteousness ? The word speaks 
for itself. There is a right and a wrong to everything in 
this world, and righteousness means an alliance with the 
first, in thought, and word, and deed; and a rejection of 
the last, continually. So far as meaning is concerned, 
it is really a very simple proposition. Practically con- 
sidered, it may not always be an easy matter to deter- 
mine, in every case, and at first hand, just what the 
right is ; but to constantly inculcate a desire to " know 
the truth " and to act in accordance with its dictates, 
must make for the formation of character that will 
produce a most excellent foundation for religion of any 
and every sort. 

I once saw an old arithmetic whose preface closed 
with these words: ''And now I commend you to him 
who maketh all things by number." Good ! I wish I 
could have studied arithmetic with the man who made 
that book. I am sure he taught righteousness to his 

Y 



322 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



pupils, and begot in them a love of the Author of All 
Truth. When I studied arithmetic, the chief thing I 
was taught was how to find the answer. No effort was 
made to show me what it was all about — the real mark 
I was, or should have been, shooting at all the time. 

That is a great phrase, " maketh all things by number." 
There is a basic religion in it from start to finish. A 
realization of what it means will beget reverence and 
awe and love and true regard for Him Who maketh all 
things thus. As the children grow in years, I believe 
most of them — all of them who vibrate in that plane — 
can be led to see this through the means of their arith- 
metical work, and so can be brought into those ways of 
true religious experience and practice that are derived 
from this source. Let them learn that all that the most 
powerful telescope can reveal, all that the most highly 
magnifying microscope brings to light, and all in between, 
and all beyond, either way — that everything, everywhere, 
that we know anything about, is "made by number," 
perfectly in order, truthful, righteous, without variable- 
ness or shadow of turning. Is there any doubt but 
that the making of such true wisdom a part of the lives 
of our school children will make them better men and 
women, better citizens, more anxious to bring their own 
acts within the laws of righteousness, and so within the 
realm of true religion ? And can such religious teaching 
do violence to the doctrines of any sect in all the world } 
There can be but one answer to this question. 

Horace Mann used to say that we want to rear "gen- 
erations of men and women who are above deciding 
great and eternal principles upon low and selfish 
grounds." Will not such teaching of arithmetic as I 
have suggested tend to produce such a result .-^ 



MORALS AND RELIGION 323 

And what is true of arithmetic is equally true of any 
and all studies that have a place in the public school. 
A child can be led to see the eternal order of things on 
the earth by the study of geography — things regarding 
the physical construction of the world and its political 
divisions and arrangements. (How such a view of this 
study surpasses a mere memory knowledge of mountains, 
rivers, states, and their capitals, merely as such.) His- 
tory can be made to teach the pupil the devious ways of 
humanity in its upward struggle towards life and light. 
(How much more this is than the memorizing of stories 
of battles and the dates on which they were fought.) 
The study of language and its use, of literature, — of 
both these, present or past, so long as there is life in 
what the pupils work on, — of all the sciences, of the 
arts and trades, — all these studies can be so conducted 
as to impress the spirit of truth and righteousness upon 
the student, practically upon all the children of all the 
people in all our schools. Is this not a consummation 
devoutly to be wished ? 

Does this mean the Bible in our public schools ? some 
one may ask. It may, or it may not. It all depends. 
If the Bible can be used in any school to furnish the 
growth and upbuilding of unsectarian religion, well and 
good. But not otherwise. And right there is some- 
thing for all fair-minded citizens of the United States to 
stop to think about. What we must all keep in mind is 
that these schools are for all the children of all the peo- 
ple. All of the people pay for them, and all must have 
" a square deal " in everything that pertains to them, re- 
ligion as well as in everything else. 

And it is not a square deal to take advantage of a sit- 
uation, and endeavor to make our schools proselyting 



324 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

religious institutions, just because there is a majority 
in them one way or another. Our public schools are 
neither Protestant institutions nor Catholic institutions, 
nor are they sectarian institutions of any kind or sort. 
Indeed, much as some people would dislike to have it 
said, it cannot be justly claimed that our schools are 
even Christian institutions, in the sectarian use of that 
word. They are neither Christian, Jew, nor Gentile, 
Mohammedan, nor Buddhistic. They exploit the in- 
terests of no religious denomination of any name or 
order. And yet, for all of this, they can be truly con- 
ducted on genuine religious lines. 

Yet how often have we seen our schools treated as if 
they were to be conducted on denominational and sec- 
tarian lines. And I am ashamed to say that the greater 
part of such treatment has, so far, been largely on one 
side. The truth is, it must be neither on one side nor 
the other. No sectarian teacher and no community has 
a right to exploit their peculiar tenets and beliefs in a 
public school. To do so is wrong, no matter who does it 
or how large a majority may be which backs up such 
doing. The very foundation of our Republic is based on 
the idea of religious freedom, total and absolute ; and he 
is a traitor who would violate that principle whenever he 
found himself in a position where he could do so without 
immediate danger of being called down or found out. 

Shall the Bible be used in our schools then ? Yes, if 
it can be used and not abused ; if it can be made to serve 
the growth of those things that are common to all re- 
ligions without producing prejudice against any. If it 
can be used for rehgion's sake, and not for sectarian pur- 
poses, well and good. This is fair to all, it is unjust to 
none, and from this position it seems to me there can be 



MORALS AND RELIGION 325 

no appeal in the mind of any truly patriotic and genuinely 
religious citizen, no matter what his particular sect or 
creed may be. No citizen wishes to have his own chil- 
dren proselyted by any sect, in or out of public schools. 
By the same token let us be fair, and not try to do to 
others what we would not like to have others do to us 
and ours. That is a " square deal," and nothing else is. 

It can truthfully be said that the Bible contains a 
great wealth of material that can be used in our public 
schools, as has been suggested. I know of no book 
in the world which has in it so much of spiritual truth 
that is of universal application to all classes and con- 
ditions of men, women, and children. But it is also 
true that, as the various sects have interpreted some 
parts of it, all sorts of isms and dogmas and creeds are 
evolved from its pages. And it is further true that the 
most of our teachers have some special sectarian bias 
(as it is natural they should have, and as there is not the 
least objection to their personally having), and hence, if 
they are left to read the Bible to their pupils as they 
choose, they are likely (very likely, as a matter of fact) 
to attempt to transmit their particular creed notions to 
their pupils, through the reading of this book. 

Which things being true, would it not be wise for 
some good, sane, unprejudiced men and women, repre- 
senting all sects and denominations and rehgions of all 
sorts, to get together and compile a book of religious 
readings for our public schools which should embody 
the fundamental ideas and principles that are common 
to all forms of religious belief. There is plenty in 
the Bible to fill such a book, and there are numberless 
things to be found outside its pages that are well worthy 
of a place in such a volume. Why may not the 



326 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

National Educational Association take this matter up, 
and deal with it as the situation demands ? Some insti- 
tution of wide-extended influence ought to do this work, 
and I know of none better suited to the purpose than 
the N.E.A. 

And this is a work that needs to be done. The 
charge is sometimes made that our schools lack the 
religious element, and sometimes that the religious in- 
struction given in them is sectarian. Neither of these 
charges should be longer possible. And yet, as things 
now are, they can be brought with a considerable degree 
of truth. Let us make an end of such possibility and 
bring about a condition in which pure religion and un- 
defiled shall be taught in all our schools, and every 
semblance of sectarianism be banished from their doors. 
Nothing short of this will satisfy the religious needs of 
all the people. 

And what has been said of the reHgious readings in 
our schools ought to be said, with double emphasis, 
regarding the religious singing done in them. No 
denominational or sectarian singing books should be 
permitted to be used in our public schools. No hymns 
that have a doctrinal or denominational bias should ever 
be forced upon all the children of all the people ; that 
is, such hymns should have no place in any pubHc 
schoolroom. There are plenty of deeply religious 
hymns, hymns that breathe the spirit of truth and 
righteousness in their every word and line, hymns that 
all religious people can agree upon for our children 
to sing, and these should be brought within their reach. 
So let fit hymns be added to fit reHgious readings, and 
then, instead of the religious jungle that we are now 
floundering around in in our public schools, we shall 






MORALS AND RELIGION 



327 



have a highway straight through the premises, one that 
all the children of all the people can travel in with 
profit and delight, singing songs of all-enfolding joy as 
they go. What patriotic citizen would ask them to 
march otherwise ? 

What this nation needs above everything else is to 
be saturated through and through with a living reli- 
gious spirit ; to be ** fused with vital religious fire," 
which shall enter into and become a part of every 
thought and word and deed of every citizen of our 
Republic. The place to implant such virtue is in our 
public schools. If we can do that, and do it there, all 
will be well. All the sects have their places. The 
churches are, and of right ought to be. Let them all 
grow and flourish, each after its own kind. For this 
also is ordained. But let not any of them or all of them 
attempt to proselyte children to its particular creed 
through the means of the public schools. Let these 
things be, and the problem of morals and religion in our 
public schools will be solved. 



. CHAPTER XXXV 

THE COMMON SENSE OF IT ALL 

Definition of Common Sense — Precedent and Conventionality — 
Slow Progress of Conservatism — Its Mission in Social Life — 
The Make-up of our Democracy — A Polyglot People — Self- 
interests — Machinery and Wealth — The Aristocracy and the 
Proletariat as they face Each Other To-day — Labor and Capital 
— Other Conflicting Interests — The Function of the Public 
Schools in all this Chaos — Some Details that must be stricdy 
looked after — The Past as related to the Present — What are 
we going to do about it? — " Is it a Dream?" 

Common sense is that faculty of the human make-up 
that insists that the truth is good enough, and that 
has a way of getting at the truth, regardless of prece- 
dent and conventionalities. 

True, precedent and conventionality lift up their 
voices and wail, and make a great outcry whenever com- 
mon sense gets at the truth regardless of them ; but in 
spite of such groans and tears and prognostications of 
ill, this primary element of the general soul steadily pur- 
sues its way on and up. Sometimes it moves "with in- 
credible slowness, so that with the eye it is impossible 
to tell which way it is going," as Caesar once remarked 
regarding the river Arar. Again, it reaches its goal like 
a thunderbolt, crushing and burning its way through 
everything in its path. Not death itself is more relent- 
less or remorseless in its working than is the common 
sense of the people, when it once gets started, in the 
establishment of a truth which it sees clearly is good 
enough. 

328 



THE COMMON SENSE OF IT ALL 



329 



It took common sense more than two hundred years 
to come to the point where it determined to estabhsh the 
truth about slavery in this country. But it made quick 
and awful work of it, once it got at it. And all the 
while precedent and conventionality were working over- 
time to prove to common sense that it was all wrong, 
and that the truth in the premises was not at all as repre- 
sented. But common sense insisted ; and common sense 
demonstrated the truth of its position. Truly, the voice 
of the people is the voice of God, if only the noise we 
hear be really the people's voice. 

There are other instances in point that will readily 
recur to the reader without my noting them here. 
What I want to say is, that it is a most excellent plan 
to heed the voice of God before it gets so loud and 
terrible that it blasts and annihilates. 

It is in the hope of helping to unstop some of the 
deaf ears, and to open some of the blind eyes of prece- 
dent and conventionality, that these pages have been 
written. I know that both these ultra-conservative social 
forces are braced squarely against many, not to say 
most, of the positions taken in this book. None the less, 
common sense insists that the truth is good enough, and 
I am perfectly wiUing to be brought to its bar for 
judgment on what I have written or said. I make no 
plea for partiality in my favor, nor need I ask that the 
opposite side be treated with no favoritism. It is simply 
a case of " May the Lord judge betwixt us twain," and 
such a bench is not open to the suggestions of special 
counsel. 

The one persistent position that common sense occu- 
pies regarding the public schools is that they should 
educate all the children of all the people. If they will 



330 ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 

do this, the method by which they accomplish the end 
is of small moment. But by just so much as they fail 
to do this, by just so much will they be brought into 
judgment by the common sense of the people ; and 
by just so much will all inefficient ways and means be 
swept out of the path, and others set up in their places. 
These things will come in peace if the right shall lead. 
"They will sweep in storm if they be denied." Common 
sense believes it is better to have them come in peace 
than to deny them so long that they will be forced to 
sweep in storm in order to arrive. 

It is no fable that the issues which the last fifty years 
have precipitated upon this nation are the most momen- 
tous that any people has ever faced. Babel was a 
decorous afternoon tea party compared with the poly- 
glot clamors that are coming up all over this land 
from voices whose origins are as diverse as the races of 
the earth, and whose shoutings are as varied as their 
self-interests are multitudinous. 

And all this is intensified by the intermingling, in 
every cry, of the issue of the distribution of the vast 
hoards of newborn wealth with which the establishment 
of machinery has deluged civilization since you and 
I came into this world. On this count, the cry is fast 
rising to a roar, and the voice of God is evidently to be 
heard therein. Common sense is insisting that the 
truth is good enough here, also; and it is searching 
diligently for ways and means by which all may come 
to their own, even if it has to disregard precedent and 
conventionality to compass such result. 

And, as of yore, these two conservative factors are 
doing their old work over again. They are largely blind 
and deaf to the real issue, and persistently declare that 



THE COMMON SENSE OF IT ALL 33 1 

what has been must be, though the heavens fall and 
"the public be damned." They do not put it just that 
way, but it is the real spirit of their position. 

The wealth of the world has been augmented by a 
greater amount in the last half century than in any 
one thousand years of previous history. Men used to 
plow, or mine, for money. Now they exploit some 
enterprise that is based on machinery, or some of its 
adjuncts, stock it to the limit, and a printing press does 
the rest. And the output of the press goes, for the 
most part, to the men who furnish the blank paper 
which an imprint turns to gold. Billions have been 
made in that way since you and I can remember, and 
the problem of what to do about it is still on. For the 
most part, these billions are in the hands of the few who 
printed them, and the many are in a state of unrest 
because of the situation. Common sense sees a truth in 
the premises, and it is beginning to talk about it, out loud. 

And back of all this is the independence of thought 
and spirit on the part of the masses, a new situation 
brought about by an era of scientific thinking, which 
has hardly yet reached its years of discretion. There is 
much of the bull-in-the-china-shop in the use of this new 
acquirement, by the rank and file; but that does not 
alter the facts in the case. It is a situation and not a 
theory that confronts us; and we cannot shirk the 
dominating question, What are we going to do about it ? 
The proletariat can no longer be hushed by an edict from 
the aristocracy. The day of such method is past, and 
we are not yet quite sure what is to take its place. 
Common sense insists that the truth is good enough. 
The hard thing is to find out how to realize upon its 
demands. 



332 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



With such issues upon this nation, it is as clear as the 
noonday sun that special effort must be made to meet 
them, or ruin will be upon us. And inasmuch as the 
old method of ''might makes right" can no longer be 
maintained by a government of the people, by the peo- 
ple, and for the people, it is thoroughly apparent that 
some way other than the old one must be utilized in 
the emergency. It is equally certain that the only way 
left is to so establish righteousness and justice in the 
hearts of all the people that they will stand squarely for 
the upholding of the truths which common sense insists 
are good enough. Nothing short of this can save us 
long from disaster and shipwreck. 

And by no other means can righteousness and justice 
be so successfully established in the hearts of all the 
people as through the medium of the public schools. 
It is within the possibilities for these schools to be so 
conducted aiid utilized that they shall impart a love of 
righteousness and of justice to all the childreji of all the 
people ; shall disseminate among them a true spirit of 
mutualness, and breathe into them the breath of brotherly 
love and of gemmte democracy y for use in all the affairs 
of life, both private and public. That is what these 
schools were established to do ; and that they must do, 
or yield their place to some institution that can do what 
the situation demands. 

But if these schools do this, they must meet the 
needs of all the children of all the people, so that, 
when grown, these children, having become men and 
women, shall be equal to a satisfactory adjustment of 
the issues that are upon them. These schools can never 
accomplish the purposes they were made to fulfill by 
devoting the major part of their energies and methods 



THE COMMON SENSE OF IT ALL 333 

to the special interest of a few of the children of a few 
of the people, no ^natter who or what these few may be. 
They can never do it by persisting in the use of obsolete 
ways and means which were primarily fashioned for 
the cloister of an old-time gentility. They can never 
do it by following a psychology that is based on the 
uniformity of the human mindy and on the possibility of 
environment fashioning every individuality to a common 
model. 

All these things have been weighed in the balance 
for the last fifty years, and common sense proclaims the 
fact that they have been found wanting in many re- 
spects. They should not be discarded, any or all of 
them, merely because they are old. Nothing should be 
discarded merely because it is old. " Would the son 
discard the father } " Neither should they be retained 
merely because they are old. Things wear out in this 
world. They have their day, and when their day is 
done, they should move on. All that is good in them 
should be kept for the use of those who come after. 
All that has served its time should either be buried or 
hung up in a museum of antiquities. This is simple 
common sense, it is the truth, and the truth is good 
enough. 

Here, then, it seems to me, is the summing up of the 
whole matter. The situation demands of our public 
schools that they fit all of the children of all of the people 
for all of the duties of life for which God has given them 
power. For such work all of the people contribute a 
common fund which can rightfully be used only for the 
common good of all. There can be no pets, no selec- 
tions, no survivals of the so-called fittest at the expense 
of those whom a mere material philosophy would sacri- 



334 



ALL THE CHILDREN OF ALL THE PEOPLE 



fice simply because they are weak. These schools are 
under the spirit of the new law of love and mutualness, 
and not under the letter of the old law of domination 
and the dictation of those who have the power of 
control. 

And the question for you and for me is, Will we put 
forth every effort to exploit these schools, as the situa- 
tion demands.'' Will we be brave enough to look for- 
ward and upward, and to push on, even if it does cost 
us labor and struggle and worry and weariness ? Will 
we be anxious that " not one of the least of these little 
ones shall perish " ; or will we be indifferent, and say, 
" What is that to us, every man for himself, and the 
devil take the hindermost " ? Will we be willing to fol- 
low a Moses of common sense, up and on, to God ; or 
will we beg of some Aaron to make us a calf out of the 
jewels of precedent and conventionality — something 
that we may comfortably worship, and sit still where 
we are ? Will we be genuinely democratic in this 
nation which we so proudly call the land of the free ; or 
will we be aristocratic and monarchical in fact, while 
sitting under the protection of the Stars and Stripes ? 

Brethren and sisters of every name and order, fellow 
citizens, teachers, fathers and mothers of this great Re- 
public, it is up to us ! What are we going to do about 
it } Let's do the right thing, the thing which common 
sense says is good enough. We will ! 

I have faith to believe that the common sense of all 
our people will, one day, put our public schools into 
such shape that they will do all that is required of them ; 
that they will take into account the way the children are, 
each one of them, and that they will so teach, train, and 
educate them, that they will, each one, fill to the full the 



THE COMMON SENSE OF IT ALL 335 

particular niche in our Republic which his or her own 
individuality is best fitted for. 

I know the way is largely untried, that the seas we 
have to sail are as yet, many of them, uncharted. But, 
none the less, we must sail them ; for the goal of abso- 
lute mutualness in education is also named, and it cannot 
be countermanded. There is nothing left for us to do 
but to 

" Cut the hawsers — haul out — shake out every sail ! 
Steer for the deep waters only. 

For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go, 
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all. 
O daring joy, but safe ! Are they not all the seas of God t 
O farther, farther, farther, sail ! " 



Is it a dream ? 

Nay, but the lack of it a dream ! 

And, wanting this, life's wealth and lore a dream. 

And all the world a dream ! " 



INDEX 



Ability to read Latin and Greek tran- 
sient, 187. 

"Absolute pitch," 14. 

Academic credentials no proof of teach- 
ing ability, 245. 

Academies and high schools, 11 5-1 23. 

"Accredited schools," how they origi- 
nated, 124-125. 

Actress who could not "make change," 

9. 
Adequate training for teachers, 241. 
"A fool for a player," 62. 
Agassiz, Louis, 9. 
Aimless methods of study, 228. 
"All-around man" a back number, 235. 
All is cared for, loi. 
All or nothing, 103. 
All those in "authority," 279. 
American stomach, PubUc schools the, 

319. 
"Analysis" and reading, 295. 
Animating spirit, 105. 
"Arrested development," 72. 
"Art for art's sake" and literature, 

298. 
Artist in color, not in tone, 256, 
Art of reading, how acquired, 294. 
Art of teaching not to be learned from 

books, 312. 
Atlantic Monthly, 85. 
Author-book-and-date lists, 301. 
Authorities good as means, 313, 
Author's ability to memorize, 16. 
Author's health broken by excess of 

memory work, 212. 
Auto-cyclopedias, 226. 
Ayers, Leonard P., 132. 



B 



Babel of modem voices, 330. 
Babies not all alike, 2. 



"Balance sheet" as a pedagogic factor, 
307. 

Bankers and memory, 224. 

Barber, A successful, 258. 

Basic law of evolution, 105. 

Basic principles to all religions, 320. 

Basis of authority, 281. 

Beecher, Henry Ward, 17. 

Beginning class in German, 309. 

Bible and the public schools, 323-324. 

Bible, Tribute to the, 225, 

Bigotry makes trouble regarding re- 
ligion and the public schools, 319. 

Billions of new-made wealth in the 
hands of the few, 331. 

B inner, Paul, 269. 

Bishop who could not spell, 8. 

"Black beast" of schoolrooms, 258. 

Blank paper turned to gold, 331. 

Blind handwriting and "thought con- 
tent," 295. 

Blind Tom, 15, 24, 211. 

Blunderers, 36, 

Bodily conditions limit mental possi- 
bilities, 47, 51. 

Bodine, Professor, on truancy, 284. 

Body and mind not the same, 41. 

Book for religious reading in public 
school, 225. 

Book lessons, how assigned, 218. 

Books, how to use them, 224. ■ 

Bom-not-made principle universal, 31. 

"Borrowing" in subtraction, 310. 

Botch an abomination, 174. 

"Bouquets of good deeds," 277, 286. 

Boy blind in one eye, 93. 

Boy who became expert in chemistry. 

Boy who could not learn multiplication 

tables, 6. 
Boy who could not read aloud, 5. 
Boy who suddenly became able to read, 

85. 
Boy with crushed skull, 92. 



337 



338 



INDEX 



Boys naturally "short" in grammar 
and rhetoric, 193. 

Brain and thought, 41. 

Brain injury, Some results of, 49. 

Brain specialization, 44. 

Breeding in the human family uncer- 
tain, 253. 

Brushes made by idiotic boys, 275. 

"Bubble of heredity," 253. 

Bucke, Dr. R. M., 54, 55. 

Burbank, Luther, 253. 

Business proposition, The public 
schools a, 238. 



Calling of teachers greatest of all, 292. 
"Call no man master," 313. 
Cause and effect, 143. 
Changes in methods suggested, 155. 
Chaperon, Genesis of, 317. 
Character and the schools, 205. 
Character, Definition of, 205. 
Charitable institutions, Public schools 

not, 238. 
Cheating on examinations, 225. 
Chesterfieldian manners, 293. 
Chicago to Boston on a wheel, 283. 
Child's mind not like a piece of blank 

paper, 119. 
China abandons memory tests, 226. 
Citizens, how made valuable, 290. 
City streets and college graduates, 137. 
Class microbe, how exterminated, 318. 
Class tendency in high schools, 147. 
Clear thinking only possible where 

there is natural aptitude, 292. 
Cloister and old-time gentility, 333. 
Cob webbed tuning fork, 183. 
Cock-sure teachers, 279. 
Coeducation, 316. 
Colburn, Zera, 14, 23. 
College-entrance examination, Reason- 
able extent of, 227. 
"College-feeders," 117. 
College president who cannot tell right 

hand from left, 8, 26. 
Colleges must not dictate courses of 

study for public schools, 194. 
Colleges not "the only" educational 

institutions, 194. 



Colleges not attacked, 194. 

Color-blind boy, 4. 

Columbus and the world's map, 292. 

Commencement, Origin of, 124. 

Commissioner of Education who can- 
not spell, 8, 26. 

Common sense, a definition, 328. 

Comparative efficiency of certain 
schools noted, 135. 

Comparing our children with others, 
258. 

Competition and initial ability, 33. 

Compulsion as chief factor in present 
educational system, 120. 

Congenital gifts and deprivations, 28. 

Congenital "shortage" rarely over- 
come, 262. 

Conservatism of the educational world, 
113. 

Corporal punishment, 156. 

Course of study, how formulated, 
121. 

Courses of study, no uniform ones for 
public schools, 196. 

Cranks, 64. 

Credentials, Educational, 199. 

"Credit" diplomas, 200. 

"Criminal classes," 82. 

Criminal lawyer's testimony, 74. 

Criminals' view of their own crimes, 

73- 
Criticism an unpleasant task, 139. 
Crochet girl, 15, 24. 
Crowbar and Marconi point, 185. 
"Cultured gentleman" merely, 231. 
"Cultural" studies vs. "vocational" 

studies, 293. 
Cut-and-dried plans of parents for 

children's future, 252. 
Cyclopedias for the millions, 226. 



Darwin, Charles, 253. 
Date-holder, Attempt to make a, 213. 
Death and life, 102. 
Death, Purport of, 103. 
Declaration of Independence, 118. 
Deeds, not diplomas, 199. 
Definite purpose in study, 228. 
Definition of educated people, 162. 



INDEX 



339 



Degrees and titles, Educational, igg. 
Dehumanized examinations of teachers, 

247. 
Demands which the public schools 

must meet, 332. 
Democratic literature, 303. 
Details must be mastered, 232. 
Dictionary, its proper use in language 

study and examinations, 219. 
Difficulty in getting well-trained 

teachers, 240. 
Diplomas, "Credit," 200. 
Diplomas no proof of teaching ability, 

246. 
Distribution of wealth a vital issue of 

the times, 330. 
Divine possibilities in teaching litera- 
ture, 302. 
Doctor-poHticians, 274, 
Doctrine of freedom saves the nation, 

280. 
Dogma and dicta, 143. 
Domestic economy to be taught in the 

grades, 204. 
Drudgery and virtue, 286. 



E 



Each in his own place sufficient, 106. 

Earning capacity counts in business 
life, 230.. 

"Easy way" good in some cases, 311. 

Eau Claire, Wis., schools, 270. 

Economic waste basket, A place for, 
290. 

Edison, Thomas, 61. 

Educated people, Current ideas regard- 
ing, 161. 

Educated people? Who are, 159. 

Educational values, 186. 

"Elective" principle to be extended to 
public schools, 149. 

"Elective" principle to serve in all 
grades, ig6. 

Eliot, Charles, ex-president, 188. 

Ellis, Havelock, 76. 

Emerson, R. W., on teaching, 302. 

Encyclopedia, its use, 212. 

Engineers, Examination of, 244. 

Engine handling and school teaching 
compared, 245. 



Eternal order of things the only basis 
of authority, 281. 

Everett, Edward, 219. 

Every child to be classically edu- 
cated (?), 115. 

Examination papers, how some teach- 
ers mark them, 222. 

Examinations in books without books, 
why? 222. 

Exceptional cases of "longs," 17. 

Expense of elective work to be pro- 
vided for, 204. 

Experiences, ideals, literature, and hu- 
manity, 300. 

Extreme and mean ratio, a test, 221. 

Eye glasses, why worn, 52. 

"Eye gymnastics" of small value, 296. 

Eyeless children can never be made to 
see, 263. 



Failure, a terrible word, 233, 

Fair tests of ability, just and right, 
216. 

Faith in the future of public schools, 
334- 

Falling off of graduates holding college- 
entrance diplomas, 136. 

False impressions regarding the possi- 
bilities of idiots, 96. 

Fan manipulation, 293. 

Farmers who move to town to educate 
their children, 173. 

Fashion as a determiner of vocation, 
257. 

Fatalism? 102. 

"Feeble-minded," a misnomer, 50. 

" Feed my lambs," 157. 

Feminine life and machinery, 142. 

Fickleness in choice of studies, 202. 

"Finger exercise" and mechanical 
reading, 296, 

Fixed courses of study vs. "electives," 
200. 

Foreign children assimilated in public 
schools, 146. 

Foreign origin of American educational 
methods, 141. 

Form and substance in literature, 
297. 



340 



INDEX 



Fossils and mummies in literature, 

298. 
Foundation for faith, 100. 
Franklin, Ben, 39. 
"Free agency," 68. 
French, Ability to read, 188. 
Friction regarding morals and religion, 

316. 

G 

Galesburg high school, 202. 
Galesburg, 111., school statistics, 133. 
Gambling case noted, 68. 
Gardenhire, Robert, 12, 22, 23, 61. 
Gastman, E. A., 5. 
Genius and idiocy, 62. 
Genius, Definition of, 65. 
Geniuses poor teachers, 65. 
"Gentleman and scholar," 232. 
Geography teaching as a moral force, 

323- 

Geometry and college-entrance ex- 
amination, 220. 

German taught and no English word 
spoken, 309. 

Girl born blind, 15, 51, 60. 

Girls, excess of, in high schools, 170. 

Glass, copper, and electric currents, 
38. 

"God and circumstances," 278. 

God-born impulses vs. parental de- 
sires, 258. 

Goddard, Henry H., 262. 

God's laws never apologize, 205. • 

God's way wins, 257. 

"Good education," Just a, 231. 

"Go slow" principle in pedagogy, 306. 

Grace in women, 293. 

Grades under new order, 155. 

Grading pupils according to size! 131. 

Grading pupils, how to do it, 197, 
198. 

Graduating addresses, 128. 

"Graft," no place for it in public 
schools, 193. 

Grant, U. S., 9, 24. 

Grammar and real estate, 33. 

Graven-image literature, 297. 

Graves useful institutions, 298. 

Great Worker, The, 102. 

Grundy, Mrs., 259. 



H 



Hall, Frank, 15. 

Hall, G. Stanley, 72, 89. 

"Hands off!" 308. 

Hard hands and marriage, 170. 

"Has-been" literature, 298. 

Haste in determining "shortage" 

deprecated, 83. 
"Have I passed?" 215. 
"Head master," 153. 
Heaven, Definition of, 108. 
Heaven on earth, 208. 
Hell, Definition of, 103. 
"Helps and hints" for teachers, 312. 
"He maketh all things by number," 

321, 322. 
Heredity, 253. 
Hero, The real, 260. 
High schools college-feeders, 117. 
History, How to test knowledge of, 

223. 
History teaching as a moral force, 323, 
Home Ufe, A fitting for, 208, 
Honor due founders of public schools, 

113. 
Hopeless doctrine ? 94, 
Hotel life and institutions, 269. 
House that Jack built, 123. 
How a human being is valuable, 290, 
How to view the "born short," 79. 
Howe, Julia Ward, 9. 
Human authority labeled God's will, 

279. 
Human body a machine, 41. 
"Humanities, The," 186. 
"Humming," Responsive, 178. 
"Hum" values, 185. 



"Idiot," Meaning of the word, 50. 
Idiots, false impression regarding their 

possibilities, 96. 
Idiots and geniuses, 62. 
Idiots not "fools," 63. 
Ignorance-is-bliss theory regarding sex, 

317. 

Illinois, Report of Educational Depart- 
ment,, 133- 

Illinois State University diplomas, 199, 



INDEX 



341 



Imperfect brain or nervous organism, 

45. 
Inability and laziness, 283, 
Inalienable individual rights, 152. 
"Incompetents," Criminals a herd of, 

72. 
Industrial work not suited to the needs 

of all children, 207. 
Influence for good of right literature 

teaching, 301. 
Initial ability necessary for successful 

competition, 33. 
Inquisition, The, 220. 
Insane women cured by surgical opera- 
tion, 53, 54- 
Insanity a bodily ailment, 53. 
Insanity treated as a crime, 68. 
Inspiration for true teachers, 292. 
Institutions for the specially "short," 

261. 
"Institutions" like big hotels, 269. 
Internal Animating Spirit, 105. 
"Is it a dream?" 335. 
Italian children, 191, 192. 



James, William, 77. 

Japan abolishes memory tests, 226. 

Jealousies among parents and pupils, 

258. 
Jealousy and brain surgery, 56. 
Jesus left nothing in writing, 217. 
Jesus' view of wrongdoers, 75. 
"John and the old man," 278. 
Joint counsel in determining what a 

child should study, 202. 
Judge who could not "tell time," 8, 

25- 

Jungle of morals and religion, 315. 



Knox, George Piatt, 265. 



Labor a blessing, 174. 
"Laggards in our schools," 132. 
Language should express ideas, 298. 
Laissez faire, 216, 



Latin demanded of high school gradu- 
ates, 145. 

Latin races and mathematics, 191. 

Lawyers and memory, 224. 

Laziness and heart weakness, 282. 

Lazy age for all children, 284. 

Learn to teach by teaching, 248. 

Legs, Good and bad, 83. 

Lexicon and grammar as tools in lan- 
guage study, 219. 

Lincoln, Abraham, advice to a young 
man, 36. 

Lincoln not college bred, 161. 

Literary graveyards, 302. 

Literary standing. Test of, 225. 

Literature, A definition of, 297. 

Literature and reading, 294. 

Literature, Hatred of, how begotten, 
225. 

Literature, how sometimes taught, 225. 

Literature worth teaching, Test of, 301, 

Liver and bile, 41. 

Live teaching and dead teaching of 
literature, 302. 

"Livings" assured, 199. 

Localization of functional parts of the 
brain, 48, 

Locke's theory of the mind, 118. 

Locomotive firemen, 31. 

Logical basis of present educational 
system, 119, 120. 

Lombroso, 82. 

Lonesomeness of children who leave 
institutiQns, 269. 

"Longage" and "shortage" may vary 
with age, 84. 

"Look it up!" 309. 

Lope de Vega, 15. 

Love for pupils, 237. 

Love of books, 302. 

Love of righteousness, 320. 

Lowell, James Russell, 236. 

Lower end of New York and the public 
schools, 319. 

M 

Machinery a new factor in civilized 

life, 142. 
Magazines, domestic economy and 

manual training, 241. 
"Making acts," 277. 



342 



INDEX 



Makers of democracy, 318. 
Manipulation, A definition of, 287. 
Mann, Horace, no, 114. 
Mann's, Horace, definition of desirable 

citizens, 322. 
Manual labor for its own sake, 177. 
Manual training as a character-builder, 

205. 
Manual training as a source of culture, 

189. 
Manual training courses of study hard 

to determine, 240. 
Manual training keeps pupils in schools, 

189. 
Marconi, 177. 
Martyrs, how made, 278. 
Masculine life and machinery, 142. 
Matching boards, 205. 
MateriaUzed humanity, 109. 
Mathematical boy of six, 1 1 . 
Matron's story in Imbecile Asylum, 

273- 
McKinley's assassin, 81. 
"Memories, The," 210, 
Memory counted as chief factor in 

education, 122. 
Memory examination, when fair, 219. 
Memory knowledge and manual labor, 

169. 
Memory not a regal trait, 209. 
Memory not like a safety vault, but 

like a sponge, 220. 
Memory reckoned as a storehouse, 122. 
Memory not relied upon by practical 

men, 210. 
Mental attitude toward criminals, 80. 
Mental possibilities Umited by bodily 

conditions, 47. 
Merchant's story of his two sons, 229. 
Mercy must be limited, 280. 
"Methods" must be servants, not 

masters, 312. 
"Might makes right" no part of 

democracy, 332. 
Military spirit as a factor in formation 

of our educational system, 119. 
Millais, 15. 

Milwaukee schools for "shorts," 269. 
Mingling of social grades in school, 

317. 
Ministry of evil, The, 106. 



Minuteness of grade work determined, 
121. 

Mission of the public school as a social 
force, 318. 

Mistaken methods of treating "shorts" 
in special schools for their benefit, 
266. 

Mixed population in United States, 144. 

Mixing grades, 266. 

Monarchical literature, 299. 

Morals in school, 316. 

"Moral suasion" sometimes insuffi- 
cient, 285. 

Mozart, 15. 

MuddUng pupils' minds, how done, 
307. 

Musical father and non-musical daugh- 
ter, 254, 255. 

Musician and piano, 42. 

" Muse migrate from Greece and Ionia," 
303. 

Mutualness the spirit of democracy, 
107. 

Myers, Dr. F. W. H., on the "sub- 
liminal self," 58. 

Myers' "Human Personality," 59. 

Myth of the "wholly normal" and 
"perfectly rounded," 2. 



N 



Nagging criticisms, 304. 

Nascitur nonfit, 28. 

Native abilities may be slow in reveal- 
ing themselves, 292. 

Natural aptitude and manipulation, 
292. 

N. E. A, and a religious reading book, 
326. 

Negative way for determining vocation, 

259- 

Negro children "short" on logical 
ability, 193. 

"New Education, The," 237. 

Newness of attempt to educate every- 
body, no. 

Newspapers and magazines as educa- 
tive factors, 223. 

Night ride with "Old Mike," 163. 

Non-religious schools, how obviated, 
326. 



INDEX 



343 



Nothing should be discarded or re- 
tained simply because it is old, 333, 
Nye, Bill, lazy ? 284. 
Nye, Bill, on Lincoln, 162. 



Obedience and morality, 316. 

Obedience and virtue, 278. 

Object of all work, 102. 

"Odds-and-ends" rooms, 265. 

Olmstead, Professor, 211. 

Omnipotence the desire of all hu- 
manity, 279. 

One bird at a time, 236. 

One-sided people, 235. 

One-sided people. Small danger of 
making, 182. 

"Onto his job," 165. 

Opinions regarding "shorts" and 
"longs," 20. 

Oral reading, 296. 

Original manipulation, 291. 

Origin of memory examinations, 217. 



Pahner, Professor A. M., 238. 

Parents' preconceived ideas of their 
children's abilities, 251. 

Parker, Col. Francis, 94. 

Parnassus placarded, 303. 

"Passed for us," 299. 

"Passionless pursuit of passionless in- 
telligence," 197. 

Patriotism, not poUtics, taught to chil- 
dren in public schools, 320. 

Peace the best way for reforms to 
come, 330. 

Pedagogic viewpoint of educational 
values, 186. 

People now think for themselves, 143. 

"Perfectly rounded," a myth, 2. 

Permanency of place in teaching pro- 
fession, 199. 

Personal equation ignored in educa- 
tional methods, 140. 

Personality first requisite for a good 
teacher, 248. 

Personal relations of teachers and 
pupik, 237. 



Pets, God has none, 153. 

Phillips, Wendell, 22. 

Philosophy of the art of reading, 295. 

Physical organs and their fvmctions, 41. 

Physical signs of criminality, 82. 

Piano and human body compared, 45. 

Piano and musician, 42. 

Platitudes, Retailers of, 298. 

Plato, 186. 

Pocketbook nerve as a corrective of 

poor pedagogy, 308. 
"Poems distilled from poems," 303. 
Polite bearing in men, 293. 
Political control of "institutions" — 

A protest, 272. 
Poverty no just claim for position as 

teacher, 238. 
Precedent and conventionality, 328. 
Prenatal desires, and their effect on 

progeny, 251. 
Primitive manipulation narrow in 

range, 289. 
Principals under new order, 155. 
Printing press as a maker of wealth, 

331- 
Procession, All a, 104. 
Professional men brought to a test of 

eflSciency, 167. 
Professor Pierce of Harvard, 9. 
Progress of humanity measured by 

manipulation, 287. 
Proletariat and aristocracy, 331. 
Pronounced mental quaUties seldom 

transmitted to children, 254. 
Proof of good methods of teaching, 314. 
Proper place for "short" children to 

grow up, 269. 
Proselyting no place in public schools, 

320. 
Protests against the "elective" system 

in colleges, 149. 
Psychology of reading, 295. 
"Public be damned. The," 331. 
Public opinion to be aroused in favor 

of elective work in public schools, 

204. 
Public schools as a democratizing 

power, 147. 
Public schools as a social force, 318. 
Public schools not charitable institu- 
tions, 238. 



344 



INDEX 



Public schools the seed bed for good 

literature, 304. 
Pullman story, A, 229. 
Punctuality, 281. 

Punishments under new order, 156. 
Pupils may recite in different grades, 

266. 
Purposeless education, 234. 
Purpose of writing "All the Children," 

329. 
Purport of death, 103. 



Querulous critics, Danger of making, 
303. 

R 

Races which lack ability to vibrate in 

some planes, 191. 
Racks and thumbscrews, 215. 
Railroad managers, 243. 
Railroad trains and college graduates, 

137. 
Range of "born short" phenomena, 3. 
Reading and literature, 294. 
Reading, Mechanical mastery of the 

art of, 295. 
Reading the Bible in public schools, 

323, 324- 
Real estate agent and grammar, 33. 
Reasons for falling off of pupils in the 

grades, 130. 
Relic literature, 298. 
Religion and a "square deal," 223. 
Religious freedom the basis of our 

Republic, 224. 
Report of United States Bureau of 

Education, 132. 
Repplier, Agnes, 277. 
"Rhymes and rhymers pass away," 

303. 
Rubbish heap for once good material, 

A, 290. 
Russell Sage Foundation, 132. 



"Sartor Resartus," 15. 

Scholastic work without purpose, 229. 

Schoolmaster vs. school-teacher, 153. 



Schools must "fit" the children, 150. 

Schools can transmit manipulative 
ability, 289. 

Scientific thought, A result of, 143. 

Seas uncharted, 335. 

Sectarian bias of teachers, 225. 

Sectarianism no place in public schools, 
224. 

"Seeds for superior growths," 157. 

Selecting a life work, 235. 

"Self-government" in public schools, 
286. 

Selfishness the compelling force of 
monarchy, 105. 

Sewing and cooking as character- 
builders, 206. 

Sex considered a mistake, 316. 

Shakespeare's plays and royalty, 299. 

Shaler, N. S., 9. 

Shaw, Bernard, 254. 

Shooting prairie chickens, 236. 

Shortcomings of schools, why they 
should be forgiven, 318. 

"Shorts" on some lines may be "long" 
on others, 26. 

"Shorts" not confined to any class, 
81. 

Sickle, The, 142. 

Sidis, Boris, 77. 

Sidis, Wm. James, 15. 

Sieve, Mind like a, 220. 

Silent reading, 296. 

Sin, Forgiveness of, 213. 

Singing of denominational and sec- 
tarian hymns not to be permitted 
in pubUc schools, 326. 

Situation, not a theory, A, 331. 

Slaves, how made, 280. 

Smuggling, 73. 

Social force of public schools, 318. 

Socrates, 217. 

Special appliance used for reaching 
universal results, 141. 

Specialization for life work, 235. 

Sperry, Dr., 84. 

Spirit of democracy as related to edu- 
cation, 112. 

Spirit of God in literature, 297. 

Spirit of school management must be 
changed, 153. 

Square pegs and round holes, 32. 



INDEX 



345 



St. Paul, Minn., schools, 271. 

St. Peter Sandstone foundation, 100. 

St. Louis' special schools for "shorts," 

265. 
Standards of scholarship, 198, 
"Stand patters," 280, 
Stanley, Dean, 6. 

State Boards of Examination, 247. 
Statistics regarding school enrollment, 

etc., 135. 
Stealing melons, 72. 
Stillman, Dr. W. J., Case of, 85, 89. 
Stillman, Dr. W. J., theory regarding 

his case, 88. 
Stone-age father, The, 289. 
Story teaching, in place of doing things 

told of, 289. 
Study of hterature retarded, why? 

305. 
Style in literature that abides, 300. 
"Subliminal self," The, 58. 
Success of American Republic depends 

on its literature, 304. 
Suggestion as to book for religious 

reading in pubhc schools, 225. 
Suicide, A case of, 75. 
Summing up of the whole matter of 

public education, 333. 
Sumner, Charles, g, 22, 61. 
Superintendent of Institution for the 

Blind, Testimony of, 268. 
Superintendents under new order, 155. 
Supreme questions regarding pubUc 

schools, 334. 
"Survival of the fittest," 157. 
Square-knot tying as a test of teaching 

ability, 306. 
Sympathetic vibration, 176. 
"System's" idea of vibration, The, 

180. 



Tabula rasa, 118. 

Tangled telephone, 53. 

Tardy boy with weak heart, 282. 

Tasso, 15. 

Teachers and geniuses, 65. 

Teachers who taught only what they 

knew, 218. 
Teacher who could not tell right hand 

from left, 8, 26. 



Teacher who could not "tell time," 7, 

as- 
Teaching, a profession, 241. 

Teaching and manipulation, 288. 

Teaching blunders not palpable, 245. 

"Teaching is teaching !" 276. 

Tennyson and his work, 300, 

Tentative hypothesis, A, 39. 

Testimony of Superintendent of In- 
stitution for the BUnd, 268. 

Test of character, 205. 

Themes, Literary, and their distinctions, 
300. 

Theoretical training for the art of 
teaching insuflScient, 243. 

Theory as to the nature of the human 
mind, 40, 

Theory regarding the case of Dr. W. J. 
Stillman, 89. 

Theosophists, 255. 

Thief on the cross, 78. 

Three lessons on laziness, 283. 

Three new factors in modern life, 141. 

Thrones founded on the idea of service, 
171. 

"Thought content" of reading, 295. 

Time for manual training work in 
course of study, how acquired, 226. 

Tone-deaf girl, 4. 

"Town meeting" plan of government, 
144. 

Training of engineers, 242. 

Traitors defined, 224. 

Transient ability to read Latin and 
Greek, 187. 

Transmission of the art of manipula- 
tion possible, 288. 

Tribute to the Bible, 225. 

Truancy in Chicago, 284. 

Truancy laws, 285. 

Tuning fork illustration, 178. 

Typewriter a moral force, 206. 

Tyranny of compulsion. The, 278. 

Tyrants, how they justify themselves, 
279. 

U 

Ultimate questions regarding public 
schools, 334, 

Uniform and multiform college diplo- 
mas, 144. 



346 



INDEX 



Uniform curriculum in public schools a 

thing of the past, 148. 
University, Lowell's definition of a, 

236. 
Unreliability of memory 210. 
Untried ways, 335. 
Unyielding system, An, 154. 
Utilitarian view of literature, 297. 



Versatility of many people, The, 32. 
"Vital religious fire," 227. 
"Vocational" studies vs. "cultural' 

studies, 293. 
Voice of God in the soul, 313. 
Vox populi, vox Dei, 229, 



W 



Walking encyclopedias, 150, 
Waste basket, An economic, 290. 
Webster, Daniel, 15. 
"What man has done, man can do, 
119. 



Whitman, Walt, on idiots, 95. 
Whitman, Walt, on work, 168. 
"Wholly normal" a myth, The, 2. 
Why names of some "shorts" cannot 

be given, 26. 
Wickedness of holding pupils to work 

they do not vibrate to, 190. 
"Winners" in any business must be 

"born ; not made," 30. 
Wireless telegraph instrument made by 

boy of fourteen, 291. 
Wireless telegraphy, 177. 
Womb of democracy. The, 318. 
Words for words' sake of no account, 

297- 
Work, why it is looked down upon, 

172. 
Work a necessity for most people, 171. 
Work counted a curse, 170. 
Workers with God, 102. 
Working with God, 108. 
"World on wheels," 164. 
"Worst hole in the house," 273. 
Written examinations do not prove 

teaching ability, 245. 



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